Christopher Gray watches a five-star performance of the musical Evita

It had been nearly 20 years — 18, to be precise — since the great Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical Evita last graced the New Theatre stage in a production starring Marti Webb as the charismatic Argentinian actress-cum-politician Eva Peron. Last week’s return was overdue. Lovers of the show will not have been disappointed by the classy account offered under directors Bob Tomson and Bill Kenwright.

The musical famously possesses in Don’t Cry For Me Argentina one of the greatest songs in its writers’ oeuvre. This was a show-stopper when there wasn’t a show to stop, it having been a No 1 hit for Julie Covington 18 months before Evita’s West End opening in 1978.

Hearing it last week, during an awesome performance as Evita by Madalena Alberto, was to be reminded what a truly marvellous composition it is. It is a tune perfectly suited to the character singing it, as Eva pleads and wheedles in a cynical bid to win the hearts of her audience. “And as for fortune, and as for fame I never invited them in.” A likely story, you think. For once, Rice’s lyrics hit the target bang on.

Strangely, while this truly is a show-stopping moment, the show doesn’t actually stop. Lloyd Webber’s score moves seamlessly into other business, giving no time for Madalena to receive the ovation she richly deserved.

This had to wait till the end of the evening, when she shared the applause with Marti Pellow — on marvellous form as Che. This is one of the most challenging parts on the musical stage, placing its performer in the role both of participant in, and commentator on, the action. Often wrongly assumed to be based on Che Guevara, who merely supplied the name, the character has more in common with a Greek chorus, casting an all-seeing eye over the conduct of others.

While Eva is, of course, very much the power behind the throne — her manipulation of the people being central to the story — Peron’s presence as actual wielder of authority is not overlooked. Here again, there were tough demands made on the singer, to which Mark Heenehan rose admirably. So, too, did Sarah McNicholas as Peron’s discarded mistress, seizing her moment in the affecting Another Suitcase in Another Hall.