I'll be blunt here: I know that some people would not appreciate a college/high school production of "Evita," which is basically what you're getting when you attend an "older kids" production at Children's Musical Theaterworks. (Performers are ages 15-20.) Snooty types would be uninterested (and I know this because I've talked to some of them) in seeing young actors portray complex characters who age over a couple of decades.
The way I look at it, I watched a 30-something Madonna play Eva Peron as a teen-ager in the movie version of "Evita," so why shouldn't I watch someone younger play someone older?
The interesting thing is that I liked Kylie Briggs, who played the title role in the CMT production that I saw Saturday night, better as her character aged. (Which is how I felt about the Madonna version, too.) This suggests to me that there's something structural going on here in this oft-performed Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice work. Even with a much younger actor playing Eva, it's still hard for her opening scenes to match those that come later in the play.
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