This summer’s most talked-about performance on London’s West End isn’t onstage
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.
Transcript:
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
This summer’s most talked about performance on London’s West End is not actually on stage. Doesn’t even require a ticket – NPR’s Lauren Frayer explains.
LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE: It’s kind of a bizarre hour for London’s theater district to be hopping. Tourists have all disappeared behind the theater doors. The evening performances are well underway. And yet, I am shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of people streaming down to stand in front of the Palladium theater. There are barricades. The roads are closed to traffic.
Are you going where I’m going?
AMY BAILUFF: We’re going to see Rachel Zegler sing “Evita” – “Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina.”.
FRAYER: Amy and Mark Bailuff from Fargo, North Dakota, are here for the musical “Evita,” about the life and times of Eva Peron, Argentina’s first lady in the 1940s and early ’50s. The lead role is played by Zegler, who was in Disney’s “Snow White” movie.
MARK BAILUFF: She’s Snow White. What was she in?
A BAILUFF: “West Side Story.”
M BAILUFF: “West Side Story”. There we go.
A BAILUFF: I got the Rachel Zegler trivia going on.
FRAYER: But the Bailiff family does not have tickets. They’re here to see what Zegler does outside the theater. Around 9 p.m., at the start of Act 2, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s soundtrack gets piped out onto the street and the star emerges on a balcony…
(SOUNDBITE OF ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER AND TIM RICE SONG, “DON’T CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA”)
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: Woo.
(CHEERING)
FRAYER: … To sing the musical’s signature song to passersby in the street…
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “DON’T CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA”)
RACHEL ZEGLER: (As Eva Peron, singing) Don’t cry for me, Argentina. The truth is I never left you.
FRAYER: …Just like the real Eva Peron, who appealed to Argentina’s masses and peasants. The masses here – that’s all of us in the crowd – essentially become on-camera extras because the whole scene is livestreamed back into the theater for those who actually have tickets.
JAMIE BALL: I think it’s quite cool to make people outside a prop in the show, so that’s quite unique for me.
ALANA CARLTON: We’ll be on the screen on our West End debut.
FRAYER: Londoners Jamie Ball and Alana Carlton, and practically everyone else I meet here, heard about this only one way.
BALL: Online.
CARLTON: Yeah, just on TikTok. I feel like everyone has. It’s all over TikTok.
FRAYER: Now, normally, if you film a show and post it on social media, it can get taken down for copyright issues. But that has not been the case here.
ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER: I’m very, very excited that this scene at the Palladium has had 50 million views so far on TikTok, fifty million.
FRAYER: This is the owner of the Palladium, whose name is Andrew Lloyd Webber. Yes, the Andrew Lloyd Webber. He wrote the music, owns the theater, collaborated with director Jamie Lloyd – no relation – and even petitioned the city to close the street out front.
LLOYD WEBBER: It took quite a lot of negotiation, I can tell you.
FRAYER: Now, this is signature Lloyd and Lloyd Webber, whose New York production of the musical “Sunset Boulevard” had one of the characters walk out of the theater and stroll down Broadway singing. Lloyd Webber admits he does worry, though, if crowds keep doubling in size every night here, as they have been. It looked like 1,000 people when I went.
LLOYD WEBBER: I slightly wake up at night thinking, if it gets any bigger, are they going to say, look, this is getting a little bit out of hand? But it’s a thousand people who may be, you know, not able to afford to go to the theater, you know, experiencing something, which is a live theatrical production. And I think that’s fantastic.
FRAYER: As for the people inside the theater, some of whom paid hundreds for a ticket to end up watching that famous scene only on a screen, a few people did come out of the theater grumbling.
UNIDENTIFIED THEATERGOERS: (Singing) Don’t cry for me, Argentina.
FRAYER: But others were singing.
UNIDENTIFIED THEATERGOER: (Singing) The truth is, I never left you.
FRAYER: And some say they’ll just come back tomorrow night and stand outside.
UNIDENTIFIED THEATERGOER: (Singing) I kept my promise…
UNIDENTIFIED THEATERGOERS: (Singing) Don’t keep your distance.
FRAYER: Lauren Frayer, NPR News on London’s West End.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “DON’T CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA”)
ZEGLER: (As Eva Peron, singing) And as for fortune and as for fame, I never invited them in. Though it seemed…
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