'Evita' review — Rachel Zegler leads a darkly brilliant production that is bursting with star quality

Read our review of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's musical Evita, now in performances at the London Palladium to 6 September.

The buzziest show in town right now isn’t in a theatre. It’s the moment in Act II of Evita when Rachel Zegler, playing Eva Perón, steps onto the balcony outside the London Palladium and performs “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” to the waiting crowd in the street below.

Having now seen it from inside the Palladium, I’m thrilled to report that it’s just as electrifying, if not more, as part of the show. On a giant screen we see, live, not just Eva but hundreds of watching people, camera phones raised aloft, transfixed by her – a jaw-dropping encapsulation of this timely tale of populist politics, showbiz, celebrity worship, and purposeful myth-making.

It’s also characteristic of Jamie Lloyd’s adrenaline-fuelled, contemporary production, which first ran at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in 2019. In this immersive version of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s satirical musical, you don’t just watch Eva’s rags-to-riches story – you feel every beat of it.

The ruthlessly stripped-back show is completely tailored to that experience. Soutra Gilmour’s bleachers set boldly illustrates Eva’s social-climbing, as she uses her wits, sexuality and teeth-gritted determination to go from illegitimate nobody to saintly, adored First Lady of Argentina.

The diminutive Zegler, who shot to fame in West Side Story and as a literal Disney princess in Snow White, might seem counterintuitive casting. But that becomes a cunning smokescreen for her Eva: she appears girlish to a succession of predatory men, and then she turns the tables on them.

She’s still a victim in some respects (Lloyd is alert to the power dynamics), yet becomes a complicated sort of heroine – someone we root for and are simultaneously appalled by as she allows violence and corruption to run rampant. Is this noticeably youthful Eva too immature to grasp the consequences, or too reckless and self-absorbed to care?

She reads like a modern pop star, dressed in black boots, bra and hot pants, doing Beyoncé hair flips; when she collapses during a trip abroad, she might be battling a gruelling touring schedule. Like an influencer, she’s always “on” in front of the cameras, but, in a poignant post-balcony scene, she removes her blonde wig (here evidently a costume worn by the consummate actress), and, exhausted, lets her smile drop.

Zegler is perfectly matched by the coolly charismatic James Olivas as fellow seducer Perón: when the pair prowl towards one another in “I’d Be Surprisingly Good for You”, it’s a case of game recognising game, both experts in the art of the deal. Their counterpart is Diego Andres Rodriguez’s passionately principled narrator Che, who puts his body on the line to protest the fascist regime.

Aaron Lee Lambert is highly entertaining as the cheesy crooner Agustín Magaldi, while Bella Brown stops the show with her soulful, deeply sorrowful “Another Suitcase in Another Hall”. The singing is excellent throughout (Zegler hits astonishing top notes in “Buenos Aires”), though the sheer force of the sound design means some of Rice’s biting lyrics, and a few plot points, are unfortunately lost.

But this is really a visceral experience. When Fabian Aloise’s super-athletic choreography – which combines tango and twerking – kicks into high gear, and when the phenomenal ensemble, whipped into a frenzy by the Peróns, wave signs and scarves while confetti rains down on us, it feels like being inside a stadium gig, a football match and a political rally all at once: exhilarating, addictive, ultimately terrifying.

This darkly brilliant Evita is bursting with star quality.

Evita is at the London Palladium to 6 September. Book Evita tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Photo credit: Evita (Photos by Marc Brenner)