After the hoopla over the Madonna film, talk was strong that Evita would return to Broadway in a season or two. Long before that possibility, though, is a major U.S. tour of the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical, starting this November.

Casting of the title role has not been announced.

Produced by Manny Kladitis, Magicworks Entertainment and Pace Theatrical Group, the Evita tour is expected to announce casting, dates and cities in early September, according to spokesperson Dennis Crowley (Aug. 20). The first leg of the tour is booked for nine months, with more dates possibly to be added.

Back in February, producer Kladitis has been discussing the project with original director Harold Prince. "He'll be busy with Parade," Kladitis told Playbill On-Line (Feb. 26), "but at the very least he'll bless the production."

Larry Fuller has been tapped to choreograph the touring production, which may stretch through 2000. "We anticipate using the same designers recreating their work," Kladitis said. "And we're getting input from Tim Rice as well." Kladitis is having friendly talks with the Really Useful Group, but the company may not necessarily be a producer of the tour (Robert Stigwood is the original licensee). The Evita tour may eventually come to New York, but "not until we get cooking," advises Kladitis.

Evita premiered in the U.S. At Los Angeles' Civic Light Opera in 1979. The show then opened on Broadway Sept. 25, 1979, with Patti LuPone as Eva Peron, Bob Gunton as her husband, and Mandy Patinkin as Che.

-- By David Lefkowitz