Not Coming to a Stage Near You

With the movie version of “Evita” opening Wednesday, it’s no accident that the stage production upon which the movie is based is nowhere to be seen. The Robert Stigwood Organization, which produced the original Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical that opened on Broadway in September 1979 and still oversees the stage rights, recently placed a temporary freeze on further licenses to produce the stage version in the U.S. Stigwood “thinks it’s prudent to cool it for a few weeks and keep one’s finger on the pulse” of reactions to the movie, says Freddie Gershon, who runs Music Theatre International, which administers the rights. If the movie and its massive advertising campaign stimulate interest in all things related to “Evita,” Stigwood may mount a full-fledged tour himself--which would keep the licensing rights restricted. The movie’s casting of Madonna as Eva Peron might lure a younger generation into wanting to see the stage version too, Gershon said. Then again, the movie could provide a reason for people to avoid paying more money to see the stage version.

Let the Unwrapping Begin

Well, if you haven’t figured it out yet, we have sort of an “Evita” theme going on. But we ran out of Madonna pictures, hence the real Eva Peron is seen here. Anyway, “Evita” is one of seven movies that will open on Christmas Day, even though the holiday itself is not a particularly noteworthy one for moviegoing. The season is considered the best film-going period of the year, but the best days are the weekend before the 25th or the days between Christmas and New Year’s Day. “Certain myths exist and one is that Christmas is one of the biggest days of the year at the box office,” said John Krier, president of Exhibitor Relations. Business on Dec. 25 generally is twice as good as the poor showing on Christmas Eve, but the day after Christmas draws about 30% more people than the holiday, said Phil Garfinkle, vice president of Entertainment Data Inc. The highest-grossing movie to debut on Christmas Day was “Prince of Tides,” which took in $10 million in 1991 and went on to gross $74.7 million. Only two of the seven movies opening Wednesday--”Michael” starring John Travolta and “The Evening Star” with Shirley MacLaine--will be in wide release. The others--”Evita,” “Mother,” “Hamlet,” “The People vs. Larry Flynt” and “Some Mother’s Son”--will open in only a handful of theaters in Los Angeles and New York.

All They Want for Christmas Are . . . SALES!

Speaking yet more of “Evita” . . . well, actually it’s just a cheap entry into talking about record sales. Anyway, the film’s soundtrack moved from No. 21 to No. 15 on the Billboard album chart last week and has sold about 385,000 copies since its release Nov. 12. That’s not bad for a double album and it could get a boost after the film opens. That would be good news for record retailers, who are hoping that a late shopping rush by consumers will brighten their holiday mood. With album sales lagging behind last year’s pace, this has not been a particularly joyous yuletide for the industry. “Without a doubt, there’s reason for concern,” says Gary Arnold, vice president of marketing for the 261-store Best Buy discount retail chain. “The best-selling products are selling substantially less than in past years.” While fall releases that had been eagerly anticipated--including new records by Pearl Jam, Nirvana and R.E.M.--have failed to generate much excitement among consumers, a 14-month-old album, No Doubt’s “Tragic Kingdom,” moved to No. 1 this month. “Given that the mind-set of the music industry is to save a lot of superstar talent for fall release, it’s very significant that an album that is more than a year old has captured the top of the chart at this time of the year,” says Arnold. “It’s very disappointing for the industry as a whole.” But Bob Feterl, a regional manager for Tower Records, isn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet. “Come Dec. 25, we might be surprised,” he says. “Music has always been a great last-minute gift, and we’re just waiting and begging for people to come in.”

OK, Here’s a Break From ‘Evita’

Well, the only link we could possibly make here is that Madonna was once a dancer. We don’t know if she ever performed in “The Nutcracker,” but over the past nine years, American audiences have had abundant opportunities to see Robert Joffrey’s version of the holiday tradition, a ballet that received its premiere in December 1987, just three months before his death. However, the engagement beginning Tuesday by the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago at the Orange County Performing Arts Center offers local audiences the first look at his production, and his company, since the publication this year of Sasha Anawalt’s eye-opening book “The Joffrey Ballet: Robert Joffrey and the Making of an American Dance Company” (Scribner’s). The book not only turned up pithy quotes from the man (“ ‘The Nutcracker’ is for economic reasons. Sometimes we avoid saying it, but certainly it is true”) but, also, according to Donna Perlmutter’s review in The Times, the suggestion that when Joffrey spoke about the character of the master magician Drosselmeyer, “he was talking about himself. Similarly he viewed Clara as the personification of his audience. She is everyone he performed for, created for, worked hard for.”

Compiled by Times Staff Writers and Contributors