The official opening night of the "Evita" Australian tour, at the Sydney Opera House, in the "Joan Sutherland Theatre", took place on Thursday, 13 September 2018. "Evita" book lyricist, Sir Tim Rice, attended the Opening Night, having travelled especially to Australia for the event, a week after joining the illustrious "EGOT" winners club. Arena as the lead role received a prolonged standing ovation for her stellar portrayal as Eva Perón at the opening night. Sydney's "The Daily Telegraph" reported following opening night that, "Arena soars in a sublime performance of the First Lady of Argentina. Even those who don't know the musical "Evita", are probably familiar with the song "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" and it was at this point on opening night that Arena really powered into her own as Eva Perón."