Evita was finally filmed in 1996, 20 years after its initial incarnation as a studio-bound rock opera. In between, of course, it was one of the most successful and long-running musicals on either side of the Atlantic. Given such a long history, the film might easily have been a stale anti-climax, fatally holed by our over-familiarity with songs like the ubiquitous "Don't Cry For Me ...