Rachel Zegler stirs hearts in the theatrical revival of Evita, delivering a fierce performance under direction that rewrites the musical rulebook.
London’s West End pulses with revolutionary energy thanks to Evita, the iconic work by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, now reborn with unprecedented force through the bold vision of director Jamie Lloyd and a star turn from Rachel Zegler, who makes her British stage debut with a commanding presence that redefines her career.
Far from traditional, this daring production—first acclaimed in 2019 at Regent’s Park and now reimagined for the London Palladium—transforms Eva Perón’s story into a visceral spectacle, part rock concert, part political rally. Live cameras project Zegler’s now-legendary Don’t Cry For Me Argentina to audiences both inside and outside the theatre; she doesn’t just perform—she builds a new legend from the ground up.
Clad only in a black bra, shorts, and knee-high boots, the young star of West Side Story and the controversial Snow White commands the stage with hypnotic force—dancing, seducing, and collapsing—embodying both Evita’s meteoric rise and her eventual fragility with precision. You Must Love Me becomes a raw lament, with the actress—stripped even of her trademark blonde wig—moving even the most sceptical of spectators.
Soutra Gilmour’s monumental set design, live visual effects, and Fabian Aloise’s intense choreography raise this revival to extraordinary heights. A special mention goes to Diego Andrés Rodríguez as Che, the sardonic narrator smeared in the colours of his homeland.
Zegler proves here that she needs neither CGI nor a blockbuster franchise to shine. Her Evita is fierce, human, and deeply contemporary. Long live Evita. Long live Zegler.
Running at the London Palladium until 6 September
