This review by longtime Charlotte arts critic Lawrence Toppman was published by The Charlotte Ledger on June 18, 2026. You can find out more about The Charlotte Ledger’s commitment to smart local news and information and sign up for our newsletter for free here. Ledger subscribers can add the Toppman on the Arts newsletter on their “My Account” page.
Review: Davidson Community Players’ ‘Evita’ delivers a powerful, timely production anchored by a standout performance and a strong Latino-led cast
Melissa Lozada delivers a commanding performance as Argentina’s controversial first lady in the Tony Award-winning musical “Evita.”(Photo by Sydney Schertz Photography)
by Lawrence Toppman
A glib politician with dyed hair takes power in a large country in the Americas, allegedly to represent the disenfranchised but actually bent on self-aggrandizement, demagoguery, the accumulation of wealth and the punishment of anyone with differing ideas. The press gets snubbed or suppressed, political opponents are marginalized, and a cult of personality begins.
Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice were thinking of post-World War II Argentina when they wrote “Evita,” their fourth and best full-length collaboration, about First Lady Eva Perón. But you may be forgiven for drawing parallels to any current political situation as you watch the show.
Davidson Community Players’ production at Duke Family Performance Hall arrives 50 years after the original concept album hit stores and 46 years after “Evita” became the first British entry to win the Tony Award for best musical. Its warnings against political hero worship and the abuses of authority in the name of populism remain as stinging as ever.
DCP has done one thing I’ve never encountered in another version: All four of the most important characters have Latino roots. That wasn’t true of the concept album, either of the two Broadway productions or any of the five (!) versions that have appeared in London’s West End. (No word yet on full casting for the 2027 Broadway revival, which will star Rachel Zegler.) Besides lending credibility to the casting, that means Spanish words get proper pronunciations.
This would be a small virtue if the cast, led by a gale-force performance by Melissa Lozada in the title role, were not also strong. Steve Kaliski’s direction pays tribute to familiar images in our minds (the balcony at the Casa Rosada) while inventing new ways to keep the action moving as fast as Eva Duarte’s rise to fame. Tod A. Kubo’s choreography subtly makes its own points, from a silent dance duet upstage to echo the first meeting of Eva Duarte and Juan Perón to robotic uniformity in the chorus of deceived descamisados (“shirtless ones,” Eva’s followers). In short, the show’s first-rate.
Neifert Enrique soars vocally as Che, relishing the bitterness and sarcasm — and maybe a little disillusionment with the Peróns, as if he’d once trusted them — while wailing improvised high notes. Ron Turner Diaz sings less powerfully but becomes the heart of the show as Perón. The general initially seems to be as smooth at running a con as his new bride, but his love for her comes through more clearly than in many productions; her illness crushes him, and you can see why Perón lacked the political will to stay in office after she died.
Melissa Lozada as Eva Perón addresses the masses from the balcony of the Casa Rosada in one of the signature scenes of “Evita.” (Photo by Sydney Schertz Photography)
Rumor has it Lozada will be leaving Charlotte for New York this year, hoping to become a professional actress; if so, her valedictory performance sends her off trailing fire behind her. Actresses have variously portrayed Eva as a victim of her upbringing, a steel-willed survivor, a sexual spellbinder or someone fueled by rage. Lozada shows us all these elements, yet you also believe her sad moments of weakness. She can belt with verve, her voice easily riding out over the 10-piece orchestra. Then, when you’re on the brink of feeling overwhelmed, she pulls back for a quiet moment. (I sat in the last row and missed not a word.)
Rice and Lloyd Webber created a rarity: A musical in which everyone remains unsympathetic, down to the choruses of sniggering upper-class ladies, connivingly sexist generals and duped descamisados. Even Che, presumably the voice of truth most of the time, is too consistently cruel to be appealing.
The authors didn’t want us to like these people, identify with them or perhaps even pity them. We’re simply meant to understand Evita and the reasons people fell so much in love with the woman they believed her to be. If you see this “Evita,” you will.
IF YOU’RE GOING
“Evita” runs through June 28 in Duke Family Performance Hall on the Davidson College campus. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.
Lawrence Toppman covered the arts for 40 years at The Charlotte Observer before retiring in 2020. Now, he’s back in the critic’s chair for the Charlotte Ledger — look for his reviews several times each month in the Charlotte Ledger.
—