'Evita' At The Academy Of Music

By Pat Ciarrocchi

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- This weekend, it's Broadway on Broad Street – with the Tony Award winning musical "Evita" on stage at the Academy of Music through Sunday.

"Evita" is the story of Argentina's Eva Peron, a woman who rose from poverty to become her country's First Lady and its great hope for a new nation.

This "Evita" production is more a rock opera that's both sung and danced, with the tango at the center of the action.

Choreographers Ian Liberto and Robin Masella are "the keepers" of "Evita's" tango. For the last year, they've trained a cast of primarily singers to dance with a passion and sexiness that takes the production to a new level.

"We've taken that special quality of the tango and spread it out through the whole play," said Liberto. "We use it to tell love stories. We use it to tell military coups."

Wallingford, Delaware County native Josh Young comes home to the Academy with this national touring company, playing the role of "Che," the musical's narrator.

"Evita is a universal story of an icon," said Young.

He had missed a performance because of a bad cold. His family visited this week without producing any nervous reaction from the 33-year-old artist. They've come accustomed to his work on stage.

"After college, I auditioned for shows, and when they cast me and they paid me, I thought, I could do it and I've been doing it since then."

For more on "Evita" tickets, go to www.theartsinphilly.org.

Let me know what you think on Twitter @PatCiarrocchi.