The singer is to play Eva Perón in a revival of Hal Prince’s original 1978 production of Evita for OA and John Frost.

Opera Australia Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini, Australian producer John Frost and UK producer David Ian announced today that Tina Arena is to play the role of Eva Perón in a 40th anniversary revival of the original production of Evita, directed by the legendary Hal Prince.

^{Tina Arena at today’s annoucement at the Sydney Opera House}

The revival, which opens at the Sydney Opera House in September 2018, will be overseen by Prince and his original creative team – choreographer Larry Fuller and designer Timothy O’Brien. It is the first time that Prince, who has won an unprecedented 21 Tony Awards, has recreated his original production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical, which premiered in the West End in 1978 and then on Broadway in 1979.

“Andrew and Tim have always been resolute that the best production there has ever been is the original production,” said David at the media launch, adding that one of the reasons Evita is done so infrequently is that “the role of Eva...