Cloak & Daggers Theatre Company is taking on Andrew Lloyd Weber’s most popular musical classic — with a goal of providing much more than just entertainment.
The company presents “Evita” through Sept. 25 at Penn’s Landing Playhouse. All of the company’s shows generate funds for charities in the region; this show will benefit St. Christopher’s Foundation for Children.
A holiday cabaret in December will benefit Variety, the Children’s Charity, and the 2017 lineup includes fundraising shows for the American Cancer Society and MANNA.
“Evita” follows the life, times and struggles of Argentinian political leader and icon Eva Peron, the wife of president Luan Peron, from her rise to power, charitable works and eventual death.
Out Philadelphia actor Alexandra Rush said she is honored to portray Peron, as it was a role that inspired her to overcome obstacles when she was young.
“I was in an accident when I was 5 years old,” Rush said. “I wasn’t able to walk anymore and had to re-learn to walk again. My parents had a box of cassette tapes that were all musical theater. I listened to them because I couldn’t do much else. I would sit there and I would memorize every single one,” Rush said. “But the one that stuck out the most to me was ‘Evita’ because it had such a strong female lead character. [The character of Eva Peron] spoke to me. She knew what she wanted and she got what she wanted. She did what she needed to and that inspired me to get back on my feet. It’s been a dream role since I was 5 years old.”
While it is always a challenge to take on a popular and widely known role and make it your own, Rush said she’s more focused on getting up to speed for such a demanding role.
“The dance for me is a big thing because I haven’t danced in 17 years,” she said. “It’s difficult but it’s an awesome challenge and I’m loving every minute of it.”
Rush said Cloak & Daggers isn’t straying too far from the version of “Evita” audiences have grown to love, but they are going to try to put some of their own panache into the performance.
“A lot of the aspects of our show are taken from all different productions we looked into,” she said. “Some of the choreography is inspired by one of the national tours and some of the choreography is inspired by some of the videos that we found. We’ve obviously taken our own spin on a bunch of it but I know we’re very much influenced by all the different versions of it that we have seen. It’s a different score. It’s mostly the revival but there are some parts of it that are different from the revival.”
Cloak & Daggers Theatre Company presents “Evita” through Sept. 25 at Penn’s Landing Playhouse, 211 S. Columbus Blvd. All net profits from the performances will be donated to St. Christopher’s Foundation for Children. For more information or tickets, call 855-448-7469 or visit www.cloakanddaggers.org or www.plplayhouse.com.