Eighteen years ago Lauren Kennedy took stage in North Carolina Theatre’s Evita. It was a big step from the Broughton High School auditorium to Memorial Auditorium for the young Raleigh native. While some said she was too young to adequately play the role, she did a stellar job and left Raleigh duly impressed. Kennedy went on to Broadway productions of Spamalot, Sunset Boulevard, Les Miserables, among many, many others. Kennedy still kept one oar in the Raleigh waters, though, as she and her husband are running the Hot Summer Nights at the Kennedy in the summer. Recently she agreed to reprise that role of Eva Peron in Raleigh, and returns a mature, commanding version of Argentina’s heart and soul.

Evita first hit the stage in London’s Prince Edward Theatre in 1978, and stands today as one of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s greatest works. The story centers around the life of Argentina’s Eva Peron, a beloved actress from the bourgeois who eventually became Argentina’s most beloved personality. As with many leaders, not all was grand with Evita, and Webber and Rice cleverly use the narrator in the story as the contrarian, Che.

In this production of Evita, Lauren Kennedy (Eva) and Ray Walker (Che) reunite in the roles they played for NCT 18 years ago. I was wowed by that production, but realized this time around how little I remembered from that production. The story is well told, as there seem to be no dragging points, and it leaves one pondering many points long afterward.

I had always considered the show’s hit song, “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina”, to mean “weep”, which it does in the song’s reprise in Eva’s older years. However in the song’s featured placement, on the night of Juan Peron’s election, it really means “don’t call out for the beloved wife of the newly-elected president”. It is Webber and Rice’s understated question to the Argentinian people: you do realize you elected Juan Peron, not his wife?

Musically this is a difficult show. The latter 70s was a period where alternative time signatures were being used frequently, and Andrew Lloyd Webber certainly participated. Additionally, all dialogue is sung in the production, so this really is an opera. Thankfully the orchestra, led by Julie Bradley, is voiced in the more traditional arrangement rather than Webber’s trashy Euro synth-pop arrangement.

Lauren Kennedy is, as always, fantastic. It’s about the 1000th time I’ve seen her perform and it never gets old. Kennedy’s soaring vocals are a treat, but her impeccable movement and grande presence seem to always be underappreciated. Kennedy’s voice is as good as ever, however we felt like she was holding back some power in Act I as her sound got overwhelmed by others a few times. During Act II she was certainly as powerful as anyone on stage, so perhaps there was a sound system problem that got corrected in the intermission.

Kennedy has excellent range with her voice, and a great ear to go with it. She has exquisite control. However what hit me last night is that the prettiest, and most endearing vocal moves she makes is when she dips down to the lower register and soars back up out of that depth. The seductive “I’d Be Surprisingly Good For You” was surprisingly good for us, and was my favorite performance of the night. Singing high and loud is something everyone wants to do, but it is some of the intermediate work where a master displays a craft.

Perhaps my favorite moment of the night, however, was “And The Money Kept Rolling In”. Ray Walker’s powerful vocals are outstanding, and quite forcefully remind the crowd this is not  a one-person show. Patrons paid for a full company show and they get that, with no reservations. Walker is the Artistic Director of NCT’s Conservatory, and it appears that Terrance Mann isn’t the only impressive talent to work with Raleigh’s youth theater world.

Jonathon Hammond was good as Juan Peron, and the rest were good, however we wanted better diction from the cluster of nine dancing soldiers. It was the moment were Eva’s class warfare battle was being told, but was somewhat muddied by the cast (or should I say caste?)

NC Theatre has had some hit and miss productions in recent years, but Evita stands as one of their best in recent memory. There are just four remaining Evita performances; two today and two tomorrow.