This is the best musical I have seen in years and was so captivating it ensured not one member of the audience could not have been crying about Evita as the final curtain went down.

A string of powerful song numbers depicts the rise of impoverished Eva Duarte from a “naïve” teenager dating a tango musician to the glamorous wife of Argentina’s president, Juan Domingo Peron, and the Marilyn Monroe-esque icon for the people of her country.

In this way Eva’s crucial role in creating the image of the Peron regime and capturing the hearts and minds of “her people” is interesting for the parallels that can be drawn with husband and wife partnerships in today’s politics.

But while the show tells of the rise of the fatherless teenager to champion of the poor, it also cunningly portrays the darker side of Peron-regime and depicts Eva’s as someone with flawed ethics who has slept her way to the top.

Ultimately, the tragedy of her death equals the drama of her life and Rachael Wooding is breathtaking as Eva, belting the show-stopper “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” truly home. The narrator, Seamus Cullen, was also excellent as Che Guevara.

* Bradford Alhambra until February 28, phone 01274 432000.

Lisa Campbell