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COMPOSER Andrew Lloyd Webber is said to be "over the moon about it," while lyricist Tim Rice jokes: "This is a new feeling for me. I'm not sure what to make of it."
The two giants of musical theater are responding to the ecstatic reviews that greeted the revival of their musical "Evita," directed by Michael Grandage, last week in London.
Since both men have been whipping boys for critics in the past - even for such huge hits as "Cats" (Lloyd Webber) and "Aida" (Rice) - the raves were unexpected.
Even the original 1978 production of "Evita" received some vicious notices, with critics lacing into Lloyd Webber and Rice for glorifying the fascist Argentine leader Juan Peron and his wife, Eva.
But there was none of that in the London papers last week.
"I have a strong suspicion that 'Evita' is going to be a huge and durable hit all over again," wrote Charles Spencer in the Daily Telegraph.
"This is a brilliant rediscovery of a show we thought we knew, but whose dark heart we had overlooked," said Sheridan Morley in the Daily Express.
And Nicholas de Jong of the Evening Standard, who knifed Lloyd Webber's last show, "The Woman in White," cheered, "It only takes those famous songs to bowl me over."
"I'm prejudiced, of course, but I do think it's Andrew's best score," Rice says of a list of songs that includes "Buenos Aires," "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" and the classic anthem "Don't Cry for Me Argentina."
You can't have a successful "Evita" without a great Eva Peron, and Lloyd Webber and Rice apparently have found one in West End newcomer Elena Roger.
"Senorita Roger is big, big news," proclaimed The Daily Mail. "She's going to make this fine musical, oddly overlooked in recent years, a great hooter of a hit all over again."
A native of Buenos Aires, where she has appeared in "Nine" and "Beauty and the Beast," Roger was recommended for the role by a friend who works in Lloyd Webber's production office.
The friend gave Lloyd Webber and Rice a DVD of Roger doing her club act.
"She looked great, so we flew her over," says Rice. "She had to go through quite an ordeal of auditions, but in the end she was the best. Her wonderful Argentinian accent was a plus."
Plans are in the works for this production to come to New York in the fall of 2007.
The head of the Really Useful Group, Lloyd Webber's production company, is in New York this week looking at theaters.
He has his eye on the Neil Simon, home to the long-running "Hairspray," which may close by the end of the year.
"Evita" will likely be co-produced by Really Useful and the Nederlanders, who own the Simon.
One obstacle: Since Roger isn't an American, Actors Equity has to approve her appearance on Broadway.
To get Equity's OK, Lloyd Webber is going to have to make the case that Roger is an international star (a stretch, at least for now) or that her contribution to "Evita" is unique.
That Argentinian accent might turn out to be an even bigger plus than Rice thought.
Footnote: Rice is getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Why?
"For being a general megastar for the last 40 years," the 61-year-old says, chuckling. "Or maybe they're just running out of people."
michael.riedel@nypost.com
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