Evita [1996] (1 disc)

Random Trivia For This Title:

• Olivia Newton-John seriously lobbied for the title role when the project was in development in 1979/1980. After the box-office failure of Xanadu, Olivia reconsidered her offer.
• Andrea Corr: Irish singer can be seen as Peron's mistress at the nightclub when he first meets Eva.
• The vocals for the scene where Peron tells Eva that she's dying had to be recorded live on set, as both Madonna and Jonathan Pryce kept breaking down in tears and could not keep in sync with the prerecorded tracks.
• British singer/actress Billie Piper can be seen as an extra. She is a girl asking Juan Peron for an autograph right before he meets Eva.
• Although Patti LuPone (who originally played Evita on Broadway) has never seen the film, she did admit in an interview that she heard part of the soundtrack. She expressed disappointment with the fact that many of the songs' keys had been changed, thereby altering their emotional effectiveness.
• Antonio Banderas got the role of Che by submitting a self-made audition tape and performed all the musical numbers in front of Alan Parker at a dinner meet in Miami.
• Michelle Pfeiffer also was considered for the role of Eva Perón, and when the film was to be directed by Oliver Stone she even had taken a good few months voice training for the role.
• Madonna only speaks 140 words of dialog. The rest of her lines are sung. Antonio Banderas only speaks 6 words of dialog in the entire film.
• Most of the costumes for Eva were based on outfits that the real ^[?] Eva Perón wore. Some were recreated from photographs, but many of them were based on the originals, which are still kept in government vaults in Argentina. Madonna undergoes more costume changes than any other actress in film history. She changed costumes 85 times, more than Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra. She wore 39 hats, 45 pair of shoes, and 56 pairs of earrings. Because of this, Madonna was an entry in "Guinness World Record" that year.
• ^[?] Ken Russell was the first director attached. His first choice to play Eva was Barbra Streisand, who turned him down. His second choice was Liza Minnelli, who he screen-tested, but her casting was vetoed by lyricist Tim Rice, who wanted ^[?] Elaine Paige, who had originated the stage role in London. Paige was also Rice's girlfriend.
• Bob Gunton, ^[?] Julio Iglesias, and Raul Julia were considered for the role of Juan Domingo Perón at various times during the film's development.
• Meryl Streep, Pia Zadora, Charo, Maria Conchita Alonso, ^[?] Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, ^[?] Gloria Estefan, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Barbra Streisand, Patti LuPone, ^[?] Derin Altay, ^[?] Karla DeVito, ^[?] Bette Midler, and ^[?] Sarah Brightman were considered for the role of Eva Peron at various times of the film's development.
• Oliver Stone was planning to make a film about ^[?] Eva Perón, but after several disagreements with Argentinian President ^[?] Carlos Menem he abandoned the project. Stone receives a token credit as a writer for this film, despite having made no input to the script.
• Mandy Patinkin was considered for the role of Che, which he originated on Broadway. Patrick Swayze, Elliott Gould, Barry Gibb, Meat Loaf, ^[?] David Essex, John Travolta, and Sylvester Stallone were considered for the role of Che at various times of the film's development.