EVITA - "Original" London Libretto*
Lyrics By Tim Rice Music By Andrew Lloyd Webber
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
1 : A Cinema in Buenos Aires, 26 July 1952
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
(We are in a cinema in Buenos Aires on the above date. A fairly dire movie is in
progress - black and white, probably of U.S. origin with Spanish voices dubbed.
The film grinds to a halt. The reason is soon made clear to the audience - Eva Peron,
the First Lady of Argentina, wife of President Juan Peron, has died.)
'Until this moment my lips have not dared to speak of my love for you.'
'Oh Carlos!'
'And they shall do more than speak to you - my senses are flooded with desire.'
'Oh Carlos!'
'Was that a boot on your father's gravel? If it's that bounder Rodolphe,
my sword will not remain long unsheathed!'
'Be careful, Carlos!'
(There is an annoucement from the Secretary of the Press:)
It is the sad duty of the Secretary of the Press to inform the people of Argentina
that Eva Peron, spiritual leader of the nation, entered immortality at 20.25 hours today.
(We hear the above speech in Spanish. Che and the other moviegoers leave the cinema in silence.)
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
2 : Requiem for Evita / Oh What A Circus
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
(Eva's funeral. Che is the only non-participant we see. After some time he moves away from the crowds.)
CHE
O what a circus! O what a show
Argentina has gone to town
Over the death of an actress called Eva Peron
We've all gone crazy
Mourning all day and mourning all night
Falling over ourselves to get all of the misery right
O what an exit! That's how to go!
When they're ringing your curtain down
Demand to be buried like Eva Peron
It's quite a sunset
And good for the country in a roundabout way
We've made the front page of all the world's papers today
But who is this Santa Evita?
Why all this howling hysterical sorrow?
What kind of goddess
Has lived among us?
How will we ever
Get by without her?
She had her moments – she had some style
The best show in town was the crowd
Outside the Casa Rosada crying 'Eva Peron'
But that's all gone now
As soon as the smoke from the funeral clears
We're all going to see – and how! – she did nothing for years!
CROWD
Salve regina mater misericordiae
Vita dulcedo et spes nostra
Salve salve regina
Ad te clamamus exules filii Eva
Ad te suspiramus gementes et flentes
O clemens o pia
CHE
You let down your people Evita
You were supposed to have been immortal
That's all they wanted
Not much to ask for
But in the end you
Could not deliver
Sing you fools! But you got it wrong
Enjoy your prayers because you haven't got long
Your queen is dead, your king is through
She's not coming back to you
Show business kept us all alive
Since 17 October 1945
But the star has gone, the glamour's worn thin
That's a pretty bad state for a state to be in
Instead of government we had a stage
Instead of ideas a prima donna's rage
Instead of help we were given a crowd
She didn't say much but she said it loud
Sing you fools? But you got it wrong
Enjoy your prayers because you haven't got long
Your queen is dead, your king is through
She's not coming back to you
CROWD
Salve regina mater misericordiae
Vita dulcedo et spes nostra
Salve salve regina Peron
Ad te clamamus exules filii Eva
Ad te suspiramus gementes et flentes
O clemens o pia
THE VOICE OF EVA
Don't cry for me Argentina
For I am ordinary, unimportant
And undeserving
Of such attention
Unless we all are –
I think we all are
Ride on my train O my people
And when it's your turn to die you'll remember
They fired those cannons
Sang lamentations
Not just for Eva,
For Argentina
Not just for Eva,
For everybody
So share my glory,
So share my coffin
So share my glory,
So share my coffin
CHE
It's our funeral too
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
3 : On This Night of a Thousand Stars / Eva and Magaldi / Eva Beware of the City
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
CHE
Now Eva Peron had every disadvantage
You need if you're going to succeed.
No money, no class,
No father, no bright lights
There was nowhere she'd been at the age of fifteen,
As this tango singer found out.
(Che indicates Magaldi, on stage in the club)
A tango singer! Agustin Magaldi –
Who has the distinction of being the first man
To be of use to Eva Duarte
(The cabaret is nearly over. Magaldi sings the final song of his performance with great gusto:)
MAGALDI
On this night of a thousand stars
Let me take you to heaven's door
Where the music of love's guitars
Plays for evermore!
In the glow of those twinkling lights
We shall love through eternity
On this night in a million nights
Fly away with me!
I never dreamed that a kiss could be as sweet as this but now I know that it can
I used to wander alone without a love of my own I was a desperate man
But all my grief disappeared and all the sorrow I'd feared wasn't there anymore
On that magical day when you first came my way – mi amor!
On this night
On this night
On this night of a thousand stars
Let me take you to heaven's door
Where the music of love's guitars
Plays for evermore!
(Magaldi joins the Duarte family at their table. Che is loitering nearby at the bar.)
EVA (starry-eyed, to Magaldi)
To think that a man
As famous as you are,
Could love a poor little nothing like me...
MAGALDI
The audience seemed
Extremely heavy going –
CHE
Listen chum, face the fact
They don't like your act
MAGALDI
But this is the sticks!
If this were Buenos Aires
I have that town at my feet!
I dare not even meet
Members of the public!
They'd tear me apart –
CHE
I understand their feelings
EVA
I wanna be a part of BA
Buenos Aires – Big Apple!
FAMILY
She wants to be a part of BA
Buenos Aires – Big Apple!
CHE
Just listen to that!
They're onto you Magaldi!
I'd get out while you can
EVA
It's happened mama!
I'm starting to get started
I'm moving out with my man
MAGALDI
Now Eva don't get carried away
EVA
Monotony past
Suburbia departed
Who could ever be fond of the back of the beyond?
MAGALDI
Don't hear words that I didn't say
FAMILY
What's that? You'd desert the girl you love?
MAGALDI
The girl I love? Who?
FAMILY
She really brightened up your out-of-town engagement
She gave you all she had – she wasn't in your contract
You must be quite relieved that no one's told the papers –
So far
EVA
I wanna be a part of BA
Buenos Aires – Big Apple!
Would I have done what I did
If I hadn't thought –
If I hadn't known
We would stay together?
CHE
Seems to me there's no point in resisting
She's made up her mind, you've no choice
Why don't you be the man who discovered her?
You'll never be remembered for your voice
MAGALDI
The city can be paradise for those who have the cash,
The class and the connections – what you need to make a splash.
The likes of you get swept up in the morning with the trash
If you were rich or middle class –
EVA
Fuck the middle classes!
I will never accept them
And they will never deny me anything again!
My father's other family were middle class
And we were kept out of sight, hidden from view, at his funeral!
(This line is sung by Eva and Family)
If these are the people of Buenos Aires
I welcome the chance to shine in their city
And to trample their rotten values into the ground!
CHE
Do all your one night stands
give you this trouble?
MAGALDI
Eva, beware of the city
It's hungry and cold, can't be controlled – it is mad
Those who are fools are swallowed up whole
And those who are not become
What they should not become:
Changed – in short they go bad
EVA
Bad is good for me. I'm bored, so clean and so ignored
I've only been predictable – respectable!
Birds fly out of here so why
Oh why oh why the hell can't I?
I only want variety of society!
I wanna be a part of BA
Buenos Aires – Big Apple!
FAMILY
She wants to be a part of BA
Buenos Aires – Big Apple!
MAGALDI
Five years from now I shall come back
And finally say, you have your way, come to town
But you'll look at me with a foreigner's eyes
The magical city a
Younger girl's city, a
Fantasy long since put down
EVA
All you've done to me – was that a young girl's fantasy?
I played your city games alright – didn't I?
I already know what cooks – how the dirty city feels and looks
I tasted it last night, didn't I?
I wanna be a part of BA
Buenos Aires – Big Apple!
FAMILY
She wants to be a part of BA
Buenos Aires – Big Apple!
MAGALDI
Eva beware your ambition
It's hungry and cold, can't be controlled, will run wild
This in a man is a danger enough
But you are a woman, not
Even a woman, not
Very much more than a child and whatever you say
I'll not steal you away!
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
4 : Buenos Aires
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
(Eva and Magaldi arrive in Buenos Aires - Magaldi lost the argument.)
EVA
What's new? Buenos Aires
I'm new – I wanna say I'm just a little stuck on you
You'll be on me too!
I get out here Buenos Aires
Stand back – you ought to know what'cha gonna get in me
Just a little touch of star quality!
Fill me up with your heat with your noise with your dirt overdo me
Let me dance to your beat make it loud let it hurt run it through me
Don't hold back you are certain to impress
Tell the driver this is where I'm staying
Hello Buenos Aires
Get this – just look at me, dressed up somewhere to go
We'll put on a show!
Take me in at your flood give me speed give me lights set me humming
Shoot me up with your blood wine me up with your nights watch me coming
All I want is a whole lot of excess
Tell the singer this is where I'm playing
Stand back Buenos Aires
Because you ought to know what'cha gonna get in me
Just a little touch of star quality!
And if ever I go too far
It's because of the things you are
Beautiful town – I love you
And if I need a moment's rest
Give your lover the very best
Real eiderdown – and silence
(During the orchestral break at this point Che tells a tale of a typical day for the Argentine aristocracy)
CHE
On the 9th February 1935, one of the most important polo matches of the Buenos Aires season took place
between a team of leading Argentine players and the touring British side. The home team won, but as the
British ambassador pointed out, the result did not reflect badly on British horsemanship. Three of the Argentine
players were Old Harrovians. He refrained from pointing out that the entire Argentine side had had British
nannies or governesses.
EVA
You're a tramp you're a treat you will shine to the death you are shoddy
But you're flesh you are meat you shall have every breath in my body
Put me down for a lifetime of success
Give me credit – I'll find ways of paying
Rio de la Plata! Florida! Corrientes! Neuve de Julio!
All I want to know!
Stand back Buenos Aires!
Because you oughta know what'cha gonna get in me
Just a little touch of
Just a little touch of
Just a little touch of star quality!
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
5 : Goodnight and Thank You
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
CHE
Goodnight and thank you Magaldi
You've completed your task what more could we ask of you now
Please sign the book on your way out the door
And that will be all
If we need you we'll call
But I don't think that's likely somehow
EVA
Oh but it's sad when a love affair dies
But we have pretended enough
It's best that we part, stop fooling ourselves
CHE
Which means get stuffed
Having arrived it matters to be
Photographed, noticed continually
(Eva is besieged by photographers, Che addresses one particular photographer)
Goodnight and thank you whoever
She's in every magazine, she wouldn't have been on her own
We don't like to rush but your case has been packed
If we've missed anything you could give us a ring
But we don't always answer the phone
EVA
Oh but it's sad when a love affair dies
But when we were hot we were hot
I know you'll look back on the good times we've shared
CHE
But Eva will not
CHE and EVA
There is no one, no one at all
Never has been and never will be a lover
Male or female
Who hasn't an eye on
In fact they rely on
Tricks they can try on their partner
They're hoping their lover will help them or keep them
Support them, promote them
Don't blame them
You're the same
CHE
Now you are recognized, visually known
You need to move to the microphone
(Eva is besieged by radio men. Che addressed one particular radio man)
Goodnight and thank you whoever
We are grateful you found her a spot on the sound radio
We'll think of you every time she's on the air
We'd love you to stay
But you'd be in the way
So put on your trousers and go
EVA & REJECTED LOVERS
Oh but it's sad when a love affair dies
The decline into silence and doubt
Our passion was just too intense to survive
CHE
For God's sake get out!
Fame on the wireless as far as it goes
Is all very well but every girl knows
She needs a man she can monopolize
With fingers in dozens of different pies ...
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
6 : The Art of the Possible
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
THE OFFICERS OF THE G.O.U. (including PERON)
One has no rules
Is not precise
One rarely acts
The same way twice
One spurns no device
When practicing the art of the possible
One always picks
The easy fight
One praises fools
One smothers light
One shifts left to right
It's part of the art of the possible
(Cut to Eva broadcasting)
EVA
I'm only a radio star with just one weekly show
But speaking as one of the people I want you to know
We are tired of the decline of
Argentina with no sign of
A government able to give us the things we deserve
(Back to the officers)
OFFICERS
One always claims
Mistakes were planned
When risk is slight
One takes one's stand
With much sleight of hand
Politics is the art of the possible
EVA (on the air – she is very emotional, perhaps a little too emotional)
I still feel distroyed by the news from San Juan
By the earthquake that has now taken over three thousand lives
But at last I can tell you how you can help the injured and survivors
The leaders of the goverment and of the entertainment world
have organized a concert in aid of the victims
I want you all to come
I pray that you will all come
(Back to the officers)
OFFICERS
One has no rules
Is not precise
One rarely acts
The same way twice
One spurns no device
In politics – the art of the possible
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
7 : Charity Concert / I'd Be Surprisingly Good for You
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
(Magaldi is finishing his spot in the concert held in aid of victims of the San Juan earthquake.)
MAGALDI
On this night
On this night
On this night of a thousand stars
Let me take you to heaven's door
Where the music of love's guitars
Plays for evermore!
(Crowd applauds wildly. Magaldi goes off stage. He immediately runs into Eva)
Eva Duarte!
EVA
Your act hasn't changed much
(She turns away from him)
MAGALDI
Neither has yours
(Peron pushes past, leaps on stage. Crowd noise surges to new level of enthusiasm)
PERON
Tonight I'm proud to be the people's spokesman!
You've given help to those who've lost their homes,
But more than that, conclusively shown
The people should run their affairs on their own!
Make sure your leaders understand the people!
(The crowd begin to chant 'Peron, Peron'. Peron leaves the stage with the sound of his own name
ringing in his ears. Now Peron confronts Eva for the first time. She has been applauding him too)
EVA
Colonel Peron?
PERON
Eva Duarte?
EVA & PERON
I've heard so much about you!
EVA PERON
I'm amazed! I'm amazed!
For I'm only an actress For I'm only a soldier
Nothing to shout about One of the thousands
Simply a girl on the boards Defending the country he loves
But when you act
The things you do affect us all
PERON
But when you act, you take us away from the squalor of the real world
Are you here on your own?
EVA
Yes. Oh yes
PERON
So am I
What a fortunate coincidence
Maybe you're my reward for my efforts here tonight
EVA
It seems crazy but you must believe
There's nothing calculated, nothing planned
Please forgive me if I seem naive
I would never want to force your hand
But please understand
I'd be good for you
I don't always rush in like this
Twenty seconds after saying hello
Telling strangers I'm too good to miss
If I'm wrong I hope you'll tell me so
But you really should know
I'd be good for you
I'd be surprisingly good for you
I won't go on if I'm boring you
But do you understand my point of view
Do you like what you hear, what you see, and would you be
Good for me too?
I'm not talking of a hurried night
A frantic tumble then a shy goodbye
Creeping home before it gets too light
That's not the reason that I caught your eye
Which has to imply
I'd be good for you
I'd be surprisingly good for you
PERON
Please go on – you enthrall me!
I can understand you perfectly
And I like what I hear, what I see, and knowing me
I would be good for you too
EVA
I'm not talking of a hurried night
A frantic tumble then a shy goodbye
Creeping home before it gets too light
That's not the reason that I caught your eye
Which has to imply
I'd be good for you
I'd be surprisingly good for you
EVA & PERON
(though neither seems aware that the other is singing)
There is no one, no one at all
Never has been and never will be a lover, male or female
Who hasn't an eye on
In fact they rely on
Tricks they can try on their partner
They're hoping their lover will help them or keep them
Support them, promote them
Don't blame them, you're the same
(Eva and Peron leave together)
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
8 : Another Suitcase in Another Hall
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
(Peron's flat. Eva bursts in to throw Peron's 16-year-old mistress out.)
EVA (almost affecionately)
Hello and goodbye!
I've just unemployed you
You can go back to school
You had a good run
I'm sure he enjoyed you
Don't act sad or surprised,
Let's be friends, civilized
Come on little one!
Don't sit there like a dummy!
The day you knew would arrive
Is here – you'll survive
So move, funny face!
I like your conversation – you've a catchy turn of phrase
You're obviously going through some adolescent phase
Maybe you've got something more than just a pretty face
Maybe not –
(Eva has by now bustled the mistress out)
(Outside in the hall:)
MISTRESS
I don't expect my love affairs to last for long
Never fool myself that my dreams will come true
Being used to trouble I anticipate it
But all the same I hate it – wouldn't you?
So what happens now?
CHE & CHORUS
Another suitcase in another hall
MISTRESS
So what happens now?
CHE & CHORUS
Take your picture off another wall
MISTRESS
Where am I going to?
CHE & CHORUS
You'll get by you always have before
MISTRESS
Where am I going to?
Time and time again I've said that I don't care
That I'm immune to gloom that I'm hard through and through
But every time it matters all my words desert me
So anyone can hurt me – and they do
So what happens now?
CHE & CHORUS
Another suitcase in another hall
MISTRESS
So what happens now?
CHE & CHORUS
Take your picture off another wall
MISTRESS
Where am I going to?
CHE & CHORUS
You'll get by you always have before
MISTRESS
Where am I going go?
Call in three months time and I'll be fine I know
Well maybe not that fine, but I'll survive anyhow
I won't recall the names and places of this sad occasion
But that's no consolation here and now
So what happens now?
CHE & CHORUS
Another suitcase in another hall
MISTRESS
So what happens now?
CHE & CHORUS
Take your picture off another wall
MISTRESS
Where am I going to?
CHE & CHORUS
You'll get by you always have before
MISTRESS
Where am I going to?
CHE & CHORUS
Don't ask anymore
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
9 : Peron's Latest Flame
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
CHE
At the watering-holes of the well-to-do
I detect a resistance to
ARISTOCRATS
Precisely!
CHE
our heroine's style
ARISTOCRATS
We're glad you noticed
CHE
The shooting sticks of the upper class –
ARISTOCRATS
Give her an inch ...
CHE
Aren't supporting a single arse
That would rise for the girl
ARISTOCRATS
... she'll take a mile
Such a shame she wandered
Into our enclosure – how
Unfortunate this person
Has forced us to be blunt
No we wouldn't mind
Seeing her in Harrods
But behind the jewelry counter
Not in front
CHE
Could there be in our fighting corps
A lack of affection for –
ARMY
Exactly!
CHE
Peron's latest flame?
ARMY
You said it brother
CHE
Should you wish to cause great distress
In the tidiest officers' mess
Just mention her name
ARMY
That isn't funny
The man is a fool breaking every taboo
Installing the girl in the army H.Q.
And she's an actress! The last straw
Her only good parts are between her thighs
She should stare at the ceiling not reach for the skies
Or she could be his last whore
The evidence suggests
She has other interests
If it's her who's using him
He's exceptionally dim
ARISTOCRATS
We have allowed ourselves to slip
We have completely lost our grip
We have declined to an all-time low
Tarts have become the set to know
ARMY
It's no crime for officers to do as they please
As long as they're discreet and keep free from disease
We ignore, we disregard
But once they allow a bit on the side
To move to the centre where she's not qualified
We should all be on our guard
She should get into her head
She should not get out of bed
She should know that she's not paid
To be loud but to be laid
CHE (in the guise of a reporter)
This has really been your year Miss Duarte
Tell us where you go from here Miss Duarte
Which are the roles that you yearn to play
Whom did you sleep – dine – with yesterday?
EVA (the glamorous movie star, protected by two heavies)
Acting is limiting, the lines not mine
That's no help to the Argentine
CHE
Can we assume then that you'll quit?
Is this because of your involvement with Colonel Peron?
HEAVIES (pushing Che aside and Eva out)
Goodnight and thank you
ARMY
She won't be kept happy by her nights on the tiles
She says it's his body but she's after his files
So get back onto the street!
She should get into her head
She should not get out of bed
She should know that she's not paid
To be loud but to be laid
ARISTOCRATS
Things have reached a pretty pass
When someone pretty lower class
Graceless and vulgar, uninspired
Can be accepted and admired
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
10 : A New Argentina
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
(1945. No secure leader has emerged from the group of officers who seized power in 1943.
Peron has the support of the workers and because of this the strongest movement within
the military heirarchy is an anti-Peron feeling rather than one pro-anybody else.)
PERON
Dice are rolling, the knives are out
I see every bad sign in the book
And as far as the can – overweight to a man!
They have that lean and hungry look
EVA
It doesn't matter what those morons say
Our nation's leaders are a feeble crew
There's only twenty of them anyway
What is twenty next to millions who
Are looking to you?
All you have to do is sit and wait
Keeping out of everybody's way
We'll –
You'll be handed power on a plate
When the ones who matter have their say
And with chaos installed
You can reluctantly agree to be called
PERON
There again we could be foolish
Not to quit while we're ahead
For distance lends enchantment
And that is why
All exiles are distinguished
More important, they're not dead
I could find job satisfaction in Paraguay
WORKERS' VOICES
Peron! Peron!
EVA
This is crazy defeatist talk
Why commit political suicide?
There's no risk, there's no call for any action at all
When you have unions on your side
DOLAN GETTA (A union leader)
A new Argentina!
The chains of the masses untied!
A new Argentina!
The voice of the people
Cannot be denied!
EVA
There is only one man who can lead any workers' regime
He lives for your problems, he shares your ideals and your dream
He supports you for he loves you
Understands you, is one of you
If not, how could he love me?
GETTA & MOB
A new Argentina!
The old one has gone sadly wrong
A new Argentina!
The voice of the people
Rings out loud and long!
EVA
Now I am a worker I've suffered the way that you do
I've been unemployed and I've starved and I hated it too
But I found my salvation
In Peron – may the nation
Let him save them as he saved me
SECRET POLICE
A new Argentina!
A new age about to begin!
A new Argentina!
We face the world together
And no dissent within!
(They club an unfortunate dissenter)
GETTA
Nationalization of the industries
That the foreigners control
Participation in the profits that we make
Shorter hours, higher wages
Votes for women, larger dole
More public spending, a bigger slice of every cake
PERON
It's annoying that we have to
Fight elections for our cause
The inconvenience – having to get a majority
If normal methods of persuasion
Fail to win us applause
There are other ways of establishing authority
SECRET POLICE (laying into another victim)
We have ways of making you vote for us, or at least of making you abstain
EVA
Peron has resigned from the army and this we avow
The descamisados are those he is marching with now!
He supports you for he loves you
Understands you – is one of you
If not – how could he love me?
GETTA / MOB / EVA / PERON / SECRET POLICE
A new Argentina!
The chains of the masses untied!
A new Argentina!
The voice of the people
Cannot be
And will not be
And must not be
Denied!
PERON
There again Icould be foolish
Not to quit while I'm ahead
I can see me many miles away
Inactive
Sipping cocktails on a terrace
Taking breakfast in bed
Sleeping easy, doing crosswords
It's attractive
EVA
Don't think I don't think like you, I often get those nightmares too
They always take some swallowing
Sometimes it's very difficult to keep momentum if it's you that you are following
Don't close doors
Keep an escape clause
Because we might lose
The Big Apple
But –
Would I have done what I did
If I hadn't thought
If I hadn't known
We would take the country?
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
11 : On The Balcony of the Casa Rosada / Don't Cry For Me Argentina
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
(Peron has just won the 1946 Presidential Election. This is the first public appearance
by Peron and Eva, now married, since Peron's triumph. Action takes place both inside
and on the balcony of the Cada Rosada.)
OFFICER NO. 1 (on the balcony)
People of Argentina! Your newly elected president – Juan Peron!
CROWD (in the square below)
Peron! Peron!
PERON (coming out onto the balcony)
Argentinos! Argentinos!
We are all shirtless now!
(He removes his jacket and rolls up his shirt sleeves)
Fighting against our common enemies
Poverty
Social Injustice
Foreign domination of our industries
Reaching for our common goals
Our independence
Our dignity
Our pride
Let the world know that our great nation is re-awakening
And that its heart
Beats in the humble bodies
Of Juan Peron – and his wife,
The First Lady of Argentina, Eva Duarte de Peron!
CROWD (even more enthusiastically )
Peron! Peron!
CHE (in crowd)
As a mere observer of this tasteless phenomenon
One has to admire the stage management
(Heavies move in on Che)
There again perhaps I'm more than a mere observer!
Listen to my enthusiasm gentleman!
Peron! Peron!
Look! If I take out my shirt, will you...
(Heavies bundle Che away. The crowd begin to change their chant from 'Peron' to 'Evita')
CROWD
Evita! Evita!
EVA (coming out onto the balcony)
It won't be easy, you'll think it strange
When I try to explain how I feel
That I still need your love after all that I've done
You won't believe me
All you will see is a girl you once knew
Although she's dressed up to the nines
At sixes and sevens with you
I had to let it happen; I had to change
Couldn't stay all my life down at heel
Looking out of the window, staying out of the sun
So I chose freedom
Running around trying everything new
But nothing impressed me at all
I never expected it to
Don't cry for me Argentina
The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days
My mad existence
I kept my promise
Don't keep your distance
And as for fortune, and as for fame
I never invited them in
Though it seemed to the world they were all I desired
They are illusions
They're not the solutions they promised to be
The answer was here all the time
I love you and hope you love me
Don't cry for me Argentina –
(Eva breaks down; the Crowd take up her tune)
EVA
Don't cry for me Argentina
The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days
My mad existence
I kept my promise
Don't keep your distance
Have I said too much? There's nothing more I can think of to say to you
But all you have to do is look at me to know that every word is true
(Eva goes back inside, out of sight of the crowd who are cheering ecstatically)
Just listen to that!
The voice of Argentina!
We are adored! We are loved!
OFFICER NO. 2
Statesmanship is more than entertaining peasants
EVA
We shall see, little man
CROWD
Evita Peron! La Santa Peronista!
(Eva goes back onto the balcony)
EVA
I am only a simple woman who lives to serve Peron in his noble crusade to rescue his people!
I was once as you are now!
I have taken these riches from the oligarchs only for you – for all of you!
One day you will inherit these treasures!
Descamisados! When they fire those cannons, when the crowds sing of glory, it is not just for Peron,
but for all of us! All of us!
(Eva goes back inside)
ARISTOCRATS
Things have reached a pretty pass
When someone pretty lower class
Can be respected and admired –
EVA
But your despicable class is dead!
Look who they are calling for now!
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
12 : High Flying, Adored
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
CHE
High flying, adored, so young, the instant queen, a
Rich beautiful thing of all the talents, a cross between a
Fantasy of the bedroom and a saint
And you were just a backstreet girl
Hustling and fighting
Scratching and biting
High flying, adored, did you believe in your wildest moments
All this would be yours, that you'd become the lady of them all?
Were there stars in your eyes when you crawled in at night
From the bars, from the sidewalks
From the gutter theatrical?
Don't look down, it's a long long way to fall
High flying, adored, what happens now? where do you go from here?
For someone on top of the world, the view's not exactly clear
A shame you did it all at twenty-six
There are no mysteries now
Nothing can thrill you
No one fulfill you
High flying, adored, I hope you come to terms with boredom
So famous, so easily, so soon, is not the wisest thing to be
You won't care if they love you, it's been done before
You'll despair if they hate you
You'll be drained of all energy
All the young who've made it would agree
EVA
High flying, adored – I've been called names but they're the strangest
My story's quite usual – local girl makes good, weds famous man
I was slap in the right place at the perfect time
Filled a gap – I was lucky
But one thing I'll say for me
No one else can fill it like I can
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
13 : Rainbow High
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
EVA
I don't really think I need the reasons why I won't succeed – I have done!
Let's get this show on the road
Let's make it obvious
Peron is off and rolling
HAIRDRESSERS / BEAUTY CONSULTANTS / FASHION DESIGNERS
Eyes! Hair! Mouth! Figure! Dress! Voice! Style!
Movement! Hands! Magic! Rings! Glamour! Face!
Diamonds! Excitement! Image!
EVA
I came from the people
They need to adore me
So Christian Dior me
From my head to my toes
I need to be dazzling
I want to be rainbow high!
They must have excitement
And so must I
HAIRDRESSERS, etc.
Eyes! Hair! Mouth! Figure! Dress! Voice! Style! Movement!
EVA
I'm their product
It's vital you sell me
So Machiavell-me
Make an Argentine Rose!
I need to be thrilling
And I shall be rainbow high!
They need their escape
And so do I
HAIRDRESSERS, etc.
Eyes! Hair! Mouth! Figure! Dress! Voice! Style!
Movement! Hands! Magic! Rings! Glamour! Face!
Diamonds! Excitement! Image!
EVA
All my descamisados expect me to outshine the enemy – the aristocracy
I won't disappoint them
I'm their saviour!
That's what they call me
So Lauren Bacall me
Anything goes
To make me fantastic
I have to be Rainbow High
In magical colours
You're not decorating a girl for a night on the town!
And I'm not a second-rate queen getting kicks with a crown!
Next stop will be Europe!
The Rainbow's gonna tour
Dressed up, somewhere to go – we'll put on a show!
Look out mighty Europe!
Because – you oughta know what'cha gonna get in me
Just a little touch of
Just a little touch of
Argentina's brand of
Star quality!
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
14: Rainbow Tour
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
PERON
People of Europe! I send you the Rainbow of Argentina!
OFFICER No. 1
Spain has fallen to the charms of Evita
She can do what she likes it doesn't matter much
She's the new world Madonna with the golden touch
She filled a bullring – forty-five thousand seater
But if you're prettier than General Franco
That's not hard
OFFICER Nos. 1 & 2
Franco's reign in Spain should see out the forties
So you've just acquired an ally who
Looks as secure in his job as you
OFFICER No. 2
More important, current political thought is
Your wife's a phenomenal asset
Your trump card
ALL (including Peron & Che)
Let's hear it for the Rainbow Tour
It's been an incredible success
We weren't quite sure, we had a few doubts
OFFICER No. 2
Would Evita win through?
ALL
But the answer is yes!
(Cut to Eva, still in Europe, but in contact with Peron in Buenos Aires)
EVA
There you are I told you so
Makes no difference where we go
The whole world over – just the same
You should have heard them call our name
And who would underestimate the actress now?
PERON
I'm not underestimating you – just do the same thing in Italy please
OFFICER No. 2
I don't like to spoil a wonderful story
But the news from Rome is quite as good
She hasn't gone down like we thought she would
OFFICERS Nos. 1 & 2
Italy's unconvinced by Argentine glory
OFFICER No. 2
They equate Peron with Mussolini
Can't think why
(Cut to Eva in Italy)
EVA
Did you hear that?
They called me a whore!
They actually called me a whore!
EVA'S ITALIAN ESCORT, an EX-ADMIRAL
But Signora Peron
It's an easy mistake – I've had that trouble too
I'm still called an admiral
Yet I gave up the sea long ago
(Back to Peron's office)
OFFICER No. 1
Things aren't all that bad she met the Pope
She got a Papal decoration and a kindly word
OFFICERS Nos. 3 & 4
So even if the crowds gave our lady the bird
The Argentine-Italy axis does have some hope
OFFICER No. 3
She still made a fabulous impact
Caught the eye
ALL (including Peron & Che)
Let's hear it for the Rainbow Tour
It's been an incredible success
We weren't quite sure, we had a few doubts
OFFICER No. 1
Would Evita win through?
ALL
But the answer is –
CHE
A qualified –
ALL
Yes!
OFFICER No. 5
Eva started well, no question, in France
Shining like the sun through the post-war haze
A beautiful reminder of the carefree days
She nearly captured the French, she sure had the chance
But she suddenly seemed to lose interest
She looked tired
ALL
Tired? Eva tired?
(A general buzz of reaction to this news)
CHE
Face the facts, the Rainbow's starting to fade
I don't think she'll make it to England now
PERON
It wasn't on the schedule anyhow
CHE
You'd better get out the flags and fix a parade
Some kind of coming home triumph is required
ALL (including Peron but not Che. Sung bravely but with less conviction as before)
Let's hear it for the Rainbow Tour
It's been an incredible success
We weren't quite sure, we had a few doubts
OFFICER No. 2
Would Evita win through?
ALL (except Che)
And the answer is –
Yes and no and yes and no and yes ...
Let's hear it for the Rainbow Tour
It's been...
(But this time the chorus never gets going properly and eventually fades out.
Suddenly Eva appears, back from Europe, in a rage)
EVA
Who the hell does the King of England think he is?
Tea at some tinpot casttle of his – what kind of invitation is that?
Argentina's First Lady deserved Buckingham Palace!
If England can do without me
Then Argentina can do without England!
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
15 : The Actress Hasn't Learned (The Lines You'd to Hear)
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
ARISTOCRACY
Thus all fairy stories end
Only an actress would pretend
Affairs of state are her latest play
Eight shows a week (two matinées)
My how the worm begins to turn
When will the chorus girl ever learn?
My how the worm begins to turn
When will the chorus girl being learn?
EVA
The chorus girl hasn't learned the lines you'd like to hear
She won't go scrambling over the backs of the poor to be accepted
By making donations – just large enough – to the correct charity
She won't be president of your wonderful societies of philanthropy
Even if you asked her to be
As you should have asked her to be
The actress hasn't learned the lines you'd like to hear
She won't join your clubs
She won't dance in your halls
She won't help the hungry once a month at your tombolas
She'll simply take control as
You disappear
CHE
Forgive my intrusion but fine as those sentiments sound
Little has changed for us peasants down here on the ground
I hate to seem churlish, ungrateful, I don't like to moan
But do you now represent any cause here but your own?
EVA
Everything done will justified by my Foundation!
EVA'S STAFF
Goodnight and thank you whoever
We've no time for you
But one thing we do
Want to say
Everyone now gets a crack of the whip
Things may seem bad
To one Argentine lad
But they're bad in a much fairer way
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
16 : And the Money Kept Rolling In (and Out)
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
(Che, having been given the total brush-off by Eva's staff, is now nearly knocked over by the
sudden arrival of the Manager of the Eva Peron Fountation and his many minions)
THE MANAGER (& workers on choruses)
And the money kept rolling in from every side
Eva's pretty hands reached out and they reached wide
Now you may feel it should have been a voluntary cause
But that's not the point my friends
When the money keeps rolling in you don't ask how
Think of all the people gonna see some good times now
Eva's called the hungry to her – open up the doors!
Never been a fund like the Foundation Eva Peron!
Rolling rolling rolling
Rolling on in
Would you like to try a college education?
Own your landlord's house, take the family on vacation?
Eva and her Blessed Fund can make your dreams come true
Here's all you have to do
Write your name and your dream on a card or a pad or a ticket
Throw it high in the air and should our lady pick it
She will change your way of life for two whole weeks at least!
Name me anyone who cares as much as Eva Peron!
Rolling rolling rolling
Rolling on in
Rolling on out
And the money kept rolling out in all directions
To the poor to the weak, to the destitute of all complexions
Now cynics claim a little of the cash has gone astray
But that's not the point my friends
When the money keeps rolling out you don't keep books
You can tell you've done well by the happy grateful looks
Accountants only slow things down, figures get in the way
Never been a lady loved as much as Eva Peron!
Rolling rolling rolling
Rolling on out
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
17: Santa Evita
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
CHILDREN
Please, gentle Eva
Will you bless a little child?
For I love you
Tell Heaven I'm doing my best
I'm praying for you
Even though you are already blessed
Please mother Eva
Will you look upon me as your own?
Make me special
Be my angel
Be my everything wonderful perfect and true
And I'll try to be exactly like you
Please holy Eva
Will you feed a hungry child?
For I love you
Tell Heaven I'm doing my best ...
CHE
Get them while they're young Evita, get them while they're young!
CHILDREN
I'm praying for you
Even though you are already blessed
WORKERS
Santa Santa Evita
Madre de todos los ninos
De los tiranizados
De los descamisados
De los trabajadores
De la Argentina
(This chorus is repeated and fades gradually away as the workers and children march off)
CHE
Why try to govern a country when you can become a saint?
I always thought my country right or wrong
I used to say here's where I belong
But that's a joke
I might as well have been
As loyal to
El Salvador, Afghanistan, the South of France, Japan, Hong Kong!
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
18 : Waltz for Eva and Che
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
CHE
Tell me before I waltz out of your life
Before turning my back on the past
Forgive my impertinent behaviour
But how long do you think this pantomime can last?
Tell me before I ride off in the sunset
There's one thing I never got clear
How can you claim you're our saviour
When those who oppose you
Are stepped on or cut up or simply disappear?
EVA
Tell me before you get onto your bus
Before joining the forgotten brigade
How can one person like me, say,
Alter the time-honored way the game is played?
Tell me before you get onto your high horse
Just what you expect me to do
I don't care what the bourgeoisie say
I'm not in business for them but to give all my descamisados
A magical moment or two
There is evil
Ever around – fundamental
System of government quite incidental
So why go bananas
Chasing Nirvanas
And failing?
Better to do
What you can for a few
Than to lie – much
Plainer sailing
CHE
Tell me before I seek worthier pastures
And thereby restore self-esteem
How can you be so short-sighted
To look never further than this week or next week
To have no impossible dream?
EVA
Allow me before you slink off to the sidelines
To mark your adieu with three cheers
And to ask you just who'd be delighted
To know that I'll tackle
The world's greatest problems
Say war to pollution
No hope of solution
Even if I live for one hundred years?
There is evil
Ever around – fundamental
System of government quite incidental
So go if you're able
To somewhere unstable
And stay there
Whip up your hate
In some tottering state
But not here dear
Is that clear, dear?
(Che storms out)
Oh what I'd give for a hundred years!
But the physical interferes
Every day more – oh my Creator!
What is the good of the strongest heart
In a body that's falling apart?
A serious flaw
I hope You know that ...
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
19 : She is a Diamond
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
OFFICERS
It's all very well – to a certain extent
For the lady at the side of the President
To show an interest in affairs
But let's not be blind to the drift of events
She's eclipsing the strength of the government
She should return to below stairs
She will never win our hearts
She's a woman for a start
She holds no elected post
She's an ornament at most
PERON
But on the other hand she's all they have
She's a diamond in their dull gray lives, and that's the
Hardest kind of stone – it usually survives
And if you think about it, can you recall
The last time they loved anyone at all?
She's not a bauble you can brush aside
She's been out doing what we just talked about, example:
Gave us back our businesses, got the English out
And when you think about it – well why not do
One or two of the things we promised to?
But on the other hand she's slowing down
She's lost a little of that magic drive – but I would
Not advise her critics present to derive
Any satisfaction from her fading star
She's the one who's kept us where we are
OFFICERS
She's the one who's kept you where you are
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
20 : Dice Are Rolling / Eva's Sonnet
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
PERON
Dice are rolling, the knives are out
I see every bad sign in the book
And as far as they can (overweight to a man!)
They have that lean and hungry look
EVA
But we still have the magic we've always had!
The descamisados still worship me
We arrived thanks to them and no one else!
No thanks to your generals – a clutch of stuffed cuckoos!
PERON
It's not a question of a big parade
Proving we're big with the mobs on the street
Our problems are closer than that
They're along the corridor
EVA
You're wrong – the people, my people –
PERON
The people belong to no one!
They are fickle, can be manipulated
Controllable, changeable
In the end of people don't matter – however much they love you now
It matters more that as far as my stuffed cuckoos are concerned,
You don't officially or politically exist!
EVA
So I don't exist!
So I count for nothing!
Try saying that on the street
When all over the world
I am Argentina!
Most of your generals wouldn't be recognized by their own mothers!
But they'll admit I exist when I become vice-president!
PERON
That won't work...
We've been through all of this before
They'd fight any attempt to make you vice-president tooth and nail
You'd never overcome that sort of opposition with a thousand rallies
And even if you did –
EVA
Yes?
PERON
Your little body's slowly breaking down
You're losing speed, you're losing strength – not style
That goes on flourishing forever –
But your eyes, your smile
Do not have the sparkle of your fantastic past
If you climb one more mountain it could be your last
EVA
I'm not that ill
Bad moments come but they go
Some days are fine some a little bit harder
But I'm no has-been
It's the same old routine
Have you ever seen
Me defeated?
Don't you forget what I've been through and yet I'm still standing –
And if I am ill it could even be to your advantage!
PERON
This is not a case of a sympathetic word in the gossip column
Because you've got a cold!
I'm trying to point out that you might die!
This talk of death is chilling, an assault –
Upon ourselves and it will our fault
If we allow
Those morbid septic thoughts
To rule us now
To bring our reason clattering to a halt
I do not need a final sacrifice
Just let me know of any sane device
To shift your strength, your undisputed powers
To places where your mighty deeds
Your golden words
Have not so far cut too much ice
EVA
Then I must now be vice-president!
Those shallow mean pretenders to your throne
Will come to learn ours is the upper hand
For I do not accept this is not known
Already in most quarters of our land
To face the storm so long and not capsize
Is not the chance achievement of a fraud
Conservatives are kings of compromise
So if it suits them, even they'll applaud
And I shall have my people come to choose
Two Perons who shall their country's crowns
In thousands in my squares and avenues
Emptying their villages and towns
Where every soul in home or shack or stall
Knows me as Argentina – that is all
Oh I shall be a great vice-president!
(Instrumental section, during which Eva realises she cannot avoid admitting defeat any longer)
PERON
So what happens now?
(Eva cannot answer. She does not even want to face him)
PERON
So what happens now?
EVA (in anguish)
Where am I going to?
PERON
Don't ask anymore ...
(Che bounces in )
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
21 : Eva's Final Broadcast
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
CHE
Forgive my intrusion Evita I just had to see
How you admit you have lost! A brand new experience!
– we
Got it set up!
We fixed you a broadcast
And you're so good on the air!
EVA
The actress hasn't learned the lines you'd like to hear
How could she feel defeated by such cringing mediocrities?
She's sad for her country
Sad to be defeated by her own weak body
She's sad for her people
She hopes they will know she did not betray them
(A microphone is switched on. Eva is now on the air)
I want to tell the people of Argentina
I've decided I should decline
All the honours and titles you've pressed me to take
For I'm contented – let me simply go on
As the woman who brings her people to the heart of Peron!
Don't cry for me Argentina
For the truth is I shall not leave you
Though it may get harder
For you to see me
I'm Argentina
And always will be
Have I said too much? There's nothing more I can think of to say to you
But all you have to do is look at me to know that every word is true
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
22 : Montage
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
(In her last hours, images, people and events from her life flow through
Eva's mind, while the nation's grief knows no bounds – to the mass of the
people she is already a saint, nothing less. Eva hears fragments from:)
MAGALDI
'Eva beware your ambition ...'
GETTA/ WORKERS
'A new Argentina ...'
AN OFFICER
'Statemanship is more ...'
CHE
'Accountants only slow things down ...'
The WALTZ
(While choirs sing anthems for the dying, Che breezes and sings again
'She had her moments ...')
PERON
High flying, adored, so young, the instant queen, a
Rich beautiful thing of all the talents, a cross between a
Fantasy of the bedroom and a saint
And you were just a backstreet girl
Hustling and fighting
Scratching and biting
High flying, adored, did you believe in your wildest moments
All this would be yours, that you'd become the lady of them all?
Were there stars...
(Peron having sung Che's song, we now hear Che with some of Peron's words:)
CHE
One always picks
The easy fight
One praises fools
One smothers light
One shifts left to right
Practising the art of the possible
(Che has become the Guevara we all know and love)
CHOIR
Santa Santa Evita
Madre de todos los niños
De los tiranizados
De los descamisados
De los trabajadores
De la Argentina
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
23 : Lament
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
EVA
The choice was mine and mine completely
I could have any prize that I desired
I could burn with the splendor of the brightest fire
Or else – or else I could choose time
Remember I was very young then
And a year was forever and a day
So what use could fifty, sixty, seventy be?
I saw the lights and I was on my way
And how I lived! How they shone!
But how soon the lights were gone!
The choice was mine and no one else's
I could have the millions at my feet
Give my life to people I might never meet
Or else to children of my own
Remember I was very young then
Thought I needed the numbers on my side
Thought the more that loved me the more loved I'd be
But such things can not be multiplied
Oh my daughter! Oh my son!
Understand what I have done!
(The moment Eva dies, embalmers move in to preserve her fragile body)
EMBALMERS
Eyes, hair, face, image
All must be preserved
Still life displayed forever
No less than she deserved
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
*This libretto comes from "EVITA: The Legend of Eva Peron 1919-1952" by
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice ©1978 Elm Tree Books (London) - these
lyrics were printed before the London première, yet after the Original Concept
Album, so they should be considered in a state of transition.
(
geocities.com/evitainternational)