Rachel Zegler, playing Eva Perón in Evita, performs “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” on a balcony overlooking a London street at the London Palladium on June 18. Belinda Jiao/Getty Images hide caption
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Belinda Jiao/Getty Images
LONDON — This summer’s most talked-about performance on London’s West End doesn’t require a ticket.
The latest production of the musical Evita — about Eva Perón, Argentina’s first lady in the 1940s and early 1950s — is playing at London’s Palladium theater through early September. But it’s what the star does offstage that’s creating lots of buzz. Crowds outside the theater stand shoulder to shoulder, growing by the day, as clips of what happens have gone viral with millions of views.
At the start of Act Two — around 9 p.m. on performance evenings — composer Andrew Lloyd Weber’s music is piped outside the theater into London’s narrow Argyll Street. Rachel Zegler, playing Perón, emerges on a balcony. From there, she belts out “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina,” the musical’s signature song. The performance is livestreamed back into the theater for the audience.
“From my point of view, it’s probably the best it’s ever been sung,” Lloyd Webber told NPR on Wednesday. “Rachel is amazing.”
The Palladium is one of six West End theaters owned by Lloyd Webber. He was the one who petitioned London authorities for permission to close the street outside for Zegler’s balcony performance — which takes place right next to a Five Guys burger joint.
“It took quite a lot of negotiation, I can tell you!” he says, laughing. “I slightly wake up at night thinking, ‘If it gets any bigger, are they going to sort of say, look, this is getting out of hand.’ But if there are 1,000 people out there, that’s 1,000 people who may not be able to afford to go to the theater, experiencing something which is a live theatrical production, and I think that’s fantastic!”
Comparisons have been made to the real Perón, who appealed to Argentina’s masses.
“What was amazing, when she reached that crescendo, to hear the crowd cheering, that’s what would have happened [with Eva Perón],” says Patrick Holzen. He left his theater seat Tuesday night at intermission to watch the start of Act Two from the street — even though it meant he’d miss the rest of the show. “We all became a part of the cast, as extras.”
While Evita‘s music was composed by Lloyd Webber, the lyrics are by Tim Rice, and this production is directed by Jamie Lloyd (no relation to the composer). Its unconventional staging technique is quintessential Lloyd and Lloyd Webber, says theater critic Sarah Crompton. She notes their New York City production of Sunset Boulevard had an actor stroll out of the theater and down Broadway, singing. They kept the plan for Evita’s balcony scene a secret until dress rehearsals, she says.
“I think the temptation of a rather glamorous white balcony outside the London Palladium — and an instinct to involve the public in the shows they put on — probably was so much of a temptation,” Crompton says. Director Lloyd’s “own background is quite humble, working class, and I think it’s very much part of his instinct to create theater that welcomes everybody,” she adds.
As for those inside the Palladium, some have paid hundreds of dollars for a ticket, only to end up watching that iconic “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” scene on a screen. A few people came out of the theater grumbling on Tuesday night.
But many more said they didn’t mind.
“We didn’t feel like we lost out at all!” says ticket holder Lynn Grice.
“Definitely not, it added to the ambiance of the show. You saw everything on the balcony, and you saw the crowd behind her — and it looked like Eva Perón’s subjects. It was really good!” says her companion, Simon Aldis.
Others said they’ll come back another day — and stand outside.
NPR producer Fatima Al-Kassab contributed to this report.
