THEATRE REVIEW: EVITA SETS LONDON ON FIRE – Zegler Soars, Lloyd Dazzles, and the Palladium Becomes a Populist Playground

Forget everything you thought you knew about Evita

Jamie Lloyd’s electric, unapologetically modern revival at the London Palladium isn’t just a reimagining — it’s a revelation. A fierce, full-throttle, stadium-sized spectacle that catapults Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s iconic musical into the heart of the 21st century. And at its blinding center? The incandescent Rachel Zegler, who doesn’t so much perform Eva Perón as possess her.

Zegler’s West End debut is nothing short of historic. She’s a firecracker in diamonds — seductive, serpentine, and unsparing. Every movement pulses with intent, every note she sings threatens to shatter glass. Whether storming through the halls of power or singing Don’t Cry for Me Argentina from a literal balcony to the real crowds on Argyll Street (yes, really), Zegler commands the stage — and the city — with chilling, magnetic ease.

Lloyd’s staging is bold and cinematic, with an emotional IQ as high as its decibel count. He turns the entire theatre — inside and out — into a living, breathing reflection of Perón’s Argentina, where power is a performance and the people are both audience and prop. When Zegler sings to the throngs outside, the effect is almost hallucinatory — is this 1940s Buenos Aires or 2020s London flirting with fascism? Either way, it’s unforgettable.

The design is pure rock-opera excess. Jon Clark’s strobes blaze, Adam Fisher’s sound rattles your bones, and Fabian Aloise’s brilliant choreography burns with erotic defiance. At times, the ensemble vibrates with so much heat and hunger, you half expect Beyoncé herself to step in for an encore.

Yes, the narrative arc blurs at the edges. Yes, Che is stripped of context, and the emotional weight of Eva’s demise may not fully land. But none of that matters in the moment, because the experience is that overwhelming. It’s not just theatre — it’s an adrenaline shot to the soul.

Jamie Lloyd has given us a Don’t Cry for Me that dares you not to cry. Or gasp. Or scream. And with Rachel Zegler at the helm, you might just find yourself cheering, crying, and questioning everything — all at once.

Run, don’t walk. This Evita is unlike anything you’ve ever seen — and you may never see anything like it again.