How time flies – it’s hard to believe it’s been six years since we saw Jamie Lloyd’s revival of Evita at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. Some elements remain the same – the sparse staging across a simple set of stairs with a giant ‘Evita’ sign as the backdrop, the impressive choreography, the strong singing – although the show has of course been reconfigured for its new indoor staging at The Palladium, and there’s a fair amount of tech involved now too. Everything has been dialled up to the max – the music is louder, the choreography is bolder – despite the fairly simple staging this Evita is a real feast for the eyes and ears.
Jamie Lloyd has a knack of attracting big name talent to his shows: over the last couple of years we’ve had Nicole Scherzinger in Sunset Blvd, we saw Tom Holland in Romeo & Juliet, Sigourney Weaver in The Tempest and Tom Hiddleston in Much Ado About Nothing. For Evita we have Rachel Zegler who – we cannot stress this enough – is nothing short of sensational. She doesn’t just have a fantastic singing voice (though she has that) and she isn’t simply believably expressive (although she is also this) – Zegler absolutely exudes star quality in a role that demands it.
This isn’t a traditional musical – at times it feels more like a rock concert – with Zegler very much the frontwoman of this performance, absolutely owning the stage. We’re not entirely sure we have enough platitudes to capture how impressed we were – we’ve reviewed hundred and hundreds of shows and this is a strong contender for the most impressive performance we’ve ever seen. We’re no doubt that all the awards will be coming her way next time awards season comes around.
We can’t talk about this show without drawing attention to Fabian Aloise’s incredible choreography, which is utterly mesmerising – some of the best we’ve seen. We also can’t review this production without talking about that balcony scene – you may have already read about it in the news; if not, we won’t spoil it here – but it’s a wonderful piece of theatrical trickery which works incredibly well. Of course, Zegler sings ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’ absolutely beautifully – the combination of her singing with such inspired staging results in a proper goosebumps moment.
It feels like a timely revival – when we reviewed the 2019 production we suggested it was a perfect opportunity to stage Evita, noting that the production had echoes of a political rally, full of populist rhetoric and chanting crowds, portraying an unashamedly nepotistic regime. Sound familiar? This time around it feels just as urgent.
In case it wasn’t clear, we were absolutely blown away by this dazzling revival of Evita. We expect a few may grumble that some of the scenes are style over substance – but frankly when the style is this impressive, we honestly don’t care. It’s a very loud show – at times we missed a few words here and there – but we were always able to get the gist of each scene, and the volume helps create the rock concert aesthetic which helps propel the action along. Neither of these detract from the fact that this is an incredible achievement and – we’ll say it again – Rachel Zegler is absolutely stunning. Essential viewing.
GAY TIMES gives Evita – 5/5
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