"Rainbow High": Murney Is Evita for Sacramento Music Circus Beginning Aug. 12
By Andrew Gans
12 Aug 2008
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Julia Murney
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| photo by Charr Crail | Julia Murney, the singing actress acclaimed for her performances on Broadway in Wicked and Off-Broadway in The Wild Party, tackles another demanding musical theatre role beginning Aug. 12: Eva Peron in Evita.
Murney — who was most recently seen in the new musical Saved at Playwrights Horizons — will play the wife of Argentinean dictator Juan Peron in the Music Circus season at the Wells Fargo Pavilion in Sacramento, CA. Performances continue through Aug. 17.
Glenn Casale directs the production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical with choreography by John MacInnis and musical direction by Dennis Castellano.
The cast also features Eric Kunze as Ché, Scott Blanks as Juan Peron, Philip Michael Baskerville as Magaldi and Kari Yancy as Peron's Mistress. The ensemble comprises Kim Arnett, Ann Cooley, Elizabeth Earley, Angelina Holliman, Carolanne Marano, Rayne Marcus, Christy Morton, Michael Ramey, Brett Rigby, Christine Rowan, German Santiago, Joseph Sark, Rocklin Thompson, Maurice Whitfield and Gabriel Williams.
Evita, which premiered as a two-LP recording starring Julie Covington (Eva) and Colm Wilkinson (Che), features a score by Andrew Lloyd Webber (music) and Tim Rice (lyrics). Hal Prince staged both the original London and New York productions of the musical, which made stars of Elaine Paige (in London) and Mandy Patinkin and Patti LuPone (on Broadway). The score features such tunes as "Don't Cry for Me Argentina," "Buenos Aires," "A New Argentina," "Another Suitcase in Another Hall," "I'd Be Surprisingly Good for You" and "Rainbow High." Madonna, Antonio Banderas and Jonathan Pryce starred in the film version; Elena Roger headed the cast of the London revival.
Julia Murney made her Broadway debut in Lennon and recently completed a lengthy run as Elphaba in the New York company of Wicked. She received a Drama Desk nomination for her work in Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party, and her other theatrical credits include Saved, Crimes of the Heart, Time and Again, A Class Act, Cloud 9, Snapshots, Mata Hari and the national tour of Wicked. Murney also portrayed Florence in the Chess benefit concert for The Actors' Fund of America and was part of the all-star Children of Eden concert as well. Her solo CD is titled "I'm Not Waiting."
The Music Circus season will conclude with Hairspray (Aug. 19-28). The Music Circus season is presented by California Musical Theatre under the direction of Executive Producer Richard Lewis and Artistic Director Scott Eckern.
The Music Circus is located at 1419 H Street in Sacramento, CA. Call (916) 557-1999 or visit www.californiamusicaltheatre.com for more information.
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Scott Blanks as Juan Peron, Julia Murney as Eva Peron and Eric Kunze as Che
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| photo by Charr Crail |
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