STAGE REVIEW : OCC’S ‘EVITA’ IS POTENT POLITICALLY, MUSICALLY

It doesn’t take long to feel the political sway of “Evita” at Orange Coast College. An unapologetic piece of agitprop, it’s a keening slap in the face of Argentina’s corrupt past.

This “Evita” is potent theater, both as a melodramatic history lesson and a loose reference to the continuing troubles in Central and South America. By emphasizing its leftist leanings, director Bill Purkiss jubilantly raises the proletariat to heroes and identifies as a villain any leader who replaces selfless service with selfish ambition.

But does it work as musical entertainment? Not to worry. With skill and inventiveness, Purkiss has retained the best elements--polemics on power, soap opera titillation and tuneful pleasure--of the Andrew Lloyd Webber / Tim Rice 1979 Tony Award-winner. It may be propaganda, but it’s propaganda that’s all dressed up and definitely going somewhere.

“Evita” broke ground because of the political subject matter, yet it probably would not have been such a success were the story not so good. The tale of poor, illegitimate Eva Peron’s rise on the back of her husband, Juan Peron, and her deification by the masses, reads like a made-for-summer best-seller. The story’s truth makes it even more intriguing.

In recounting her life, the musical is strictly linear. We see the successes--her climb to prominence, usually by seducing important men; her union with Peron; the people’s idolatry of her--and the crushing failures: high society’s refusal to accept her, the humiliation of her European “rainbow tour” after World War II and her death of cancer following a bid for the vice presidency under Peron.

Purkiss could have probably forged an interesting show by playing it straight, but he looks for fresh angles in almost every scene. Sure, he uses some of the devices used on Broadway (historical slides of Eva are projected onto the backstage wall; Peron’s soldiers perform a hilarious staccato march while bad-mouthing the president’s upstart paramour in “Peron’s Latest Flame”), but he also brings in much that is new.

There is the witty silliness of Eva’s followers tossing chocolate coins into the audience during “And the Money Kept Rolling In,” a number about the dubiousness of her charity programs. Purkiss also sends actors up the aisles to demand pledges in a nervy parody of Eva’s own strong-arm tactics to extract contributions from Argentina’s wealthy. (Most of that money, by the way, ended up in the Perons’ Swiss bank accounts.)

And there is the elegiac mood created by David Dunbrack’s sensitive lighting and Purkiss’ decision to have the chorus carry candles during the singing of the hopeful “A New Argentina.” A sense of partnership between the audience and the downtrodden is evoked by placard-carrying protesters who emerge unexpectedly from the back rows.

As Eva, Julie Dixon seeks no sympathy for her character. This is an uncompromising portrait of a venal woman who had it hard and, in this interpretation, would do anything to get ahead, including orchestrate a deception of the masses she purported to love.

Her callousness is thick; when she dispenses with Peron’s first mistress, a young girl with nowhere to go, Eva stands indifferently to the side, casually examining her manicure.

The energetic Dixon is particularly good early on when her youth matches that of the young Eva. Later, her age makes the portrayal somewhat less convincing, but, to her credit, Dixon’s approach remains consistent. Dixon’s singing can be poignant (especially on the signature “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina”) but it does get a bit shrill on the Tabasco-hot “Buenos Aires.”

Daniel D’Bolero as Che Guevara is expected to wear many attitudes. Besides being the indignant rebel/narrator, Guevara is something of the wily court jester who comments on the state of things, a sort of “King Lear” fool in guerrilla fatigues. It’s a demanding role, and D’Bolero slips early on with a Guevara outraged to the point of hysteria, but he eventually reaches a better balance, especially when his sardonic side surfaces.

In the smaller role of Augustin Magaldi, Rich Jackson is hilarious as the feckless, minor-league singer who becomes Eva’s first conquest. With his goofy grin and silky moves, Jackson is an imitation Sinatra for the South American cafe set. Dave Hutchinson is fairly blank as the disengaged Juan Peron, but that’s OK; this is Eva’s story, and he’s little more than a puppet in her hands anyway.

One last kudos: Purkiss was smart enough to place in the program a helpful chronology of Eva’s climb and other significant moments in Argentina’s history, even including the recent theft of Juan Peron’s hands from his burial crypt. It’s another fine detail in a show rich with fine details.

‘EVITA’ An Orange Coast College production. Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Lyrics by Tim Rice. Director Bill Purkiss. With Julie Dixon, Daniel D’Bolero, Dave Hutchinson, Rich Jackson and Rose Farquhar. Musical director Alan Remington. Choreographer Emily Kramer. Sets David Scaglione. Costumes Jennifer Anderson. Lighting David Dunbrack. Plays today through Sunday at 8 p.m. at the Drama Lab Theater on the OCC campus at 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa. Tickets: $6, $7. (714) 432-5880.