Rachel Zegler’s West End debut in Evita has been a controversial one as theatre-goers realised they won’t see the biggest song of the show live.
Instead, the Snow White actress, 24, sings Don’t Cry For Me Argentina on the balcony of the London Palladium to an audience that hasn’t paid.
Yes, the climactic song is performed outside of the theatre with a live stream projected to those inside, waiting for Rachel’s return.
A bold move from director Jamie Lloyd — famed for controversial choices — that appears to have won over the masses.
Metro headed to watch Rachel’s seven-minute rendition of the song on Monday night, gathering on Argyll Street with plenty of her fans.
While inside might grumble, crowd members called it ‘incredible’ and an ‘immersive experience’, totally unique to this production.
Evita, written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, is based on the real life of the Argentine political leader Eva Perón, the second wife of Argentine president Juan Perón.
Edie, 20, counted Rachel — who plays Eva — as one of ‘theatre’s current greatest voices’ and said she felt ‘so lucky’ to have seen the song, even if she didn’t see the whole show.
‘I’ve been an open critic of Jamie Lloyd’s direction before,’ she added. ‘But I think that this was such a smart idea.’
In this iconic moment, which kicks off Act II, Eva addresses the crowds from the balcony of the Casa Rosada and expresses her love for her country.
‘She sounded beautiful,’ Edie continued. ‘I love the immersiveness of the cast coming down here, and the security guards being the people who patrolled down here as well. It was just an incredible time.’
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However, she wasn’t sure, had she been a paying audience member, she would have felt the same, even if the number is broadcast inside.
The Birmingham-based theatre fan shared: ‘It’s supposed to be a commentary on how theatre is really expensive nowadays so I think if I was a theatre-goer now I’d just be like “eh, figures”.
‘I’d have paid £400 and can see the rest of the hour and 45 minutes, so five minutes shouldn’t be a problem.’
Her opinions mirrored that of Abi, a London local who had already been to see this production of Evita and thought the outside concept was ‘incredible’.
‘I think it’s making theatre more accessible,’ the 21-year-old student shared. ‘It’s actually adding to the ambience of the show.
‘The speech she does at the end of the song does hit completely different seeing it outside. It adds so much more to her performance to see her do it to the people.’
‘Watching Rachel Zegler changed my opinion of the Evita balcony controversy’
Metro’s music expert, Danni Scott, shares her thoughts on seeing Rachel Zegler live from the Palladium balcony.
While I had not purchased a ticket, I initially found myself siding with the disgruntled Evita audience members. If I had paid hard-earned cash to see a show, I’d be disappointed (at best) if the biggest song was performed off-stage.
Jamie Lloyd’s production works on the symbolism that those in the theatre are the ‘rich’ bourgeoisie, while those on the street are the ‘poor’ Argentines, to whom Evita is singing. His positioning alienates those — like my family — who see a West End show as a one-off or special occasion-only event. As a child, I only saw one West End show; had that been this production of Evita, I’d have been devastated to miss out on the big number.
However, having seen Rachel perform Don’t Cry For Me Argentina on the balcony of the London Palladium, my feelings have changed. I realised it was exactly people in my position growing up that she was singing for.
The crowd was heavily made up of young fans in their late teens to mid-20s, who possibly couldn’t afford to see the show. This might have been their only chance to witness such a sensational performer in real life – and money shouldn’t stop them.
Jamie Lloyd’s vision has won me over, but I think I’ll only be a true convert if Rachel joins the touring company and performs on the balcony over the Wolverhampton Grand.
Abi points out that it is crucial for the moment that people actually turned up to watch it, especially fans of Rachel mimicking those of Eva Perón.
For her and her friends, this adds ‘a lot of character to the show in general’ and acts as a giant advert for people to get tickets if they liked the performance.
The more cynical might be viewing this as a giant PR stunt — which it also functions as — but if it works within the show itself, then why not add some free promotion?
By 8.30pm, the street was largely blocked off (although pedestrians could still walk beneath the balcony) and at least a hundred fans had gathered around to watch.
While of those hundred, not all will buy tickets, the majority will post the clips on TikTok. A viral trend is the best marketing campaign you can get.
Even those who weren’t fans had turned up, with Edie’s boyfriend Charlie sharing his ‘non theatre-goer’ perspective.
‘It was amazing to be in this experience and watch it,’ he said, adding that he’d never actually watched any of Rachel’s films prior to this — but he’s now desperate to watch the Hunger Games prequel.
Charlie shared: ‘I think you might potentially be a bit gutted [if you were inside the theatre]. I know they had it on the projectors, but you might be a bit gutted to have missed the most important song.
‘But you’ve still got the rest of it to go and it’s given a good night to a lot of people who wouldn’t normally be able to get that experience.’
Evita is running at the London Palladium until September 6, with nightly performances starting at 7.30pm.
The balcony scene begins around 9pm, although we’d advise to get there earlier if you want a good spot.
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