Jamie Lloyd-helmed EVITA revival to play the London Palladium in 2025- Page 28

[binau]

Posted: 8/14/25 at 2:49am

I recently had the pleasure of experiencing the outdoor balcony after seeing it twice from inside. Arrived 45 early and there was still a massive crowd (Saturday matinee and very nice day in London so probably one of the busier slots). 

It's certainly part of the show experience so I'd recommend everyone do it once - it's quite striking and interesting to see her walk out so beautiful and it's so at odds with the Eva we actually see in the show up until that point but of course the crowd are naive to this (and it's part of the dramatic purpose). The crowd got into it a lot with a lot of cheering and clapping, which added to the whole atmosphere that we part of the show giving Eva her warm reception. Someone even brought their dog who was able to bark only at appropriate moments it was very funny. 

I was surprised at how far away and quiet it seemed though, ultimately I actually prefer inside which is all close up cameras and extremely loud.

What's quite amazing about this whole thing though is in addition to the theatrical device it's a killer marketing tool - they have hundreds of people every day talking about this show and posting it on social media. It's an amazing business strategy. I expect the balcony will form a key part of the NYC experience for this reason and we will never see the show without it. 

[binau]

Posted: 8/14/25 at 2:50am

...

[DeNada]

Posted: 8/14/25 at 4:21am

Jordan Catalano said: "I’m going to write this here (in all seriousness)in hopes that someone involved with the show sees it.


Hi, “Evita” team (Jamie Lloyd). If you do end up taking the St. James, please understand the sightlines in that theater are probably the worst of any Broadway theater. I know in “Evita”, your set extends out and several key moments take place with an actor sitting on or laying near the foot of the stage. This will be 100% blocked for the majority of people in the mezz and/or balcony. It already is semi-blocked at the Palladium even from front Royal Circle seats, dependingon the height of people in front of you. Please consider this when configuring the set for whatever space you take, but especially if it’s the horrendous St. James."

Excellent point.  Saw this from up in the gods a couple of weeks ago (thought much of it was magnificent) and from the end of Waltz For Eva and Che I have absolutely no idea what Che was doing for the rest of the show as I could not see him at all. 

[Sammy232]

Posted: 8/14/25 at 6:30am

getatme said: "Sunset also waited to transfer the following season and it didn't hurt them. ALW isn't going to let Cats and Evita compete, Jamie's dance card is filling up, and the logistics involved with the balcony scene will also take more time to figure out. Fall gives them all time to figure things out."

The Cats announcement states that his next broadway projects are Cats and the Illusionist ( I guess based on the novel/film?) so this seems like Evita may be pushed to next season?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/14/25 at 7:01am

“Illusionist” is having its premiere on the west end next Fall, though. 

[binau]

Posted: 8/17/25 at 2:50am

Caught again on a Saturday night (last performance of week for most London shows) and Rachel was stunning, her vocals by far the strongest of the 3 times I've now seen her literally perfect. The ovation at the end lasted several minutes again with a couple new vocal embellishments I didn't remember before. Rachel seems to now have worked out what to do with the non-stop applause - she spends time slowly looking around the theatre nodding to thank everyone. 

Low key hoping this was one of the performances they recorded (maybe end of week and day off means she can go all out rather than risk blowing her voice for upcoming performances). 

When the audience saw the crowd on the video feed that Rachel was about to they literally gasped. 

 

Updated On: 8/17/25 at 02:50 AM

[DramaTeach]

Posted: 8/17/25 at 7:15am

I have no doubt that her vocals are gorgeous. She really is a great singer, but is there a performance there?! Based on R&J and WSS, I’m not sure she’s an actress. Maybe she’ll prove me wrong.

[binau]

Posted: 8/17/25 at 7:56am

She can act, and she can act while singing. But what she really has that won’t be obvious to anyone who hasn’t seen her live, which is the real ‘performance’, is she has that magical X factor star quality of being able to own the stage and capture the audience. It’s not a ‘oh here we go a talented actor who has training  going through the motions it’s all great but something feels a bit vanilla’ type vibe, it’s a ‘oh my god this is an electric star performance that is creating theatre history and igniting the audience on fire’. And then Jamie Lloyd uses this to tell the story of Eva who also seemed to have that star quality. 

If this was definitely not transferring to the USA (I’d bet on it transferring though) I would drop everything to come to London to see it before it goes. 

Updated On: 8/17/25 at 07:56 AM

[Bwaygurl2]

Posted: 8/17/25 at 8:20am

binau said: 
If this was definitely not transferring to the USA (I’d bet on it transferring though)I would drop everything to come to London to see it before it goes."

I think people are reading too much into that ALW interview. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but he didn't say it wasn't transferring, right? Just that Jamie had jumped the gun on saying it was this season? It's my most anticipated production, and I don't have a grand to fly to London, so I sure hope it comes at some point.

[MezzA101]

Posted: 8/17/25 at 4:29pm

‘Evita’ Star James Olivas on Playing a New-Era Juan Perón, Political Parallels, and Puzzles

https://www.vogue.com/article/james-olivas-evita-interview

[Robbie2]

Posted: 8/19/25 at 1:22pm

Sammy232 said: "getatme said: "Sunset also waited to transfer the following season and it didn't hurt them. ALW isn't going to let Cats and Evita compete, Jamie's dance card is filling up, and the logistics involved with the balcony scene will also take more time to figure out. Fall gives them all time to figure things out."

The Cats announcement states that his next broadway projects are Cats and the Illusionist ( I guess based on the novel/film?) so this seems like Evita may be pushed to next season?"

 

I'm hearing Evita is not coming this season as maybe Jamie is waiting until next fall '26 for the Lyric

[bud2]

Posted: 8/21/25 at 1:59pm

https://nypost.com/2025/08/20/entertainment/rachel-zeglers-breathtaking-in-evita-that-should-come-to-broadway/

[WldKingdomHM]

Posted: 8/21/25 at 3:08pm

Robbie2 said: "Sammy232 said: "getatme said: "Sunset also waited to transfer the following season and it didn't hurt them. ALW isn't going to let Cats and Evita compete, Jamie's dance card is filling up, and the logistics involved with the balcony scene will also take more time to figure out. Fall gives them all time to figure things out."

The Cats announcement states that his next broadway projects are Cats and the Illusionist ( I guess based on the novel/film?) so this seems like Evita may be pushed to next season?"



I'm hearing Evita is not coming this season as maybe Jamie is waiting until next fall '26 for the Lyric"

Does the lyric even have a balcony ? 

[binau]

Posted: 8/21/25 at 3:18pm

This photo on wikipedia suggests so? Someone might have better working knowledge of the actual theatre.......if it is this, this looks pretty decent.

[ggersten]

Posted: 8/21/25 at 3:37pm

bud2 said: "https://nypost.com/2025/08/20/entertainment/rachel-zeglers-breathtaking-in-evita-that-should-come-to-broadway/"

I only read the first few pages of comments - which are consistent with what I understand to be the Post's readership. 

[Kad]

Posted: 8/21/25 at 3:46pm

binau said: "This photo on wikipedia suggests so? Someone might have better working knowledge of the actual theatre.......if it is this, this looks pretty decent.

"

The issue there is that those windows appear to slide up from about waist level, and there doesn’t seem to be much of any actual space to step out- the stone railing looks to be directly in front of the windows. I suppose the production could pay to have the windows replaced with the kind that swing in. 

[KrupYou]

Posted: 8/21/25 at 5:01pm

If Sunset cannot make its money back on Broadway, why would this show? I say leave it in London. 

[Huss417]

Posted: 8/21/25 at 5:17pm

KrupYou said: "If Sunset cannot make its money back on Broadway, why would this show? I say leave it in London."

I'm glad you don't have a say on the show coming to Broadway.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/21/25 at 5:22pm

I just got out of tonight’s show and it’s insane - Rachel is in better voice now than when I saw this 2 months ago and is giving an even stronger performance. 

[binau]

Posted: 8/21/25 at 5:37pm

Aww you're in London <Bernadette's Young Sally>don't LEAVE ME JORDAN, I'll DIE. CAN'T WE HAVE A BABY? CAN'T WE TRY?</Bernadette's Young Sally>.

I was really shocked that her vocals even had the capacity to improve. This girl is winning the Olivier and the Tony back to back like Nicole for sureeeee.

[binau]

Posted: 8/23/25 at 6:38pm

After act one today an old man exclaimed “she blows away Elaine Paige.” 

Walking out of theatre an old woman says “I’ve never seen an audience get up instantly from their seats with such an ovation before”. 

During ‘don’t cry for me’ when the camera first pans on the gigantic audience outside (it’s a cooler view watching this in a matinee actually!) the entire audience were awestruck. I’ve never heard an audience express this kind of emotion before.  

Could this be ‘the next big thing?’ 

[binau]

Posted: 8/25/25 at 4:26am

Two photos for exhibition

1. The first is what it's like at intermission after all the confetti has gone off at the end of "A New Argentina". I actually highly recommend the experience of sitting up close - it's overwhelming to have the singing, the confetti raining on you etc. talk about 'immersive theatre'. It also gets quite smokey down there at the beginning which is super cool, imagine a spotlight to introduce Diego while everywhere is completely dark and smokey around it and you. 

2. Merch booth - I notice a new kind of t-shirt that frames the whole thing as 'Evita Live!' with even the song names across Act One and Act Two - as if it's a stadium tour. 



 


In my opinion, the commercial and cultural expectations for 'Evita' should be upgraded....it's not a question anymore of it's coming to Broadway, but when and most importantly if it does - what kind of cultural impact will it have? I think their best-case scenario that could actually be realistic is that this production crosses over into the zeitgeist of the general population (which I think is easily possible given social media around the balcony scene, Rachel/production's appeal to young) and is a massive commercial success for a year or two. Something with a flame behind it that feels like a mini Hamilton. Plus Tonys for Best Actress, Best Actor (Diego), Revival and Director. 

I've becoming addicted to the score and I I'll say the show might be the best sung-through musical we currently have (along with Sweeney Todd. This is not like a 'Sunset Boulevard' with a lot of filler but every song and every moment seems to be landing with the audience. It's just amazing. The recording, whatever form it takes, will almost certainly go down as the definitive recording and one of the 'best of all time' albums like the Sondheim OBCs etc. 


 

Updated On: 8/25/25 at 04:26 AM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/25/25 at 6:14am

Excited for Bella tonight, to see what someone else does with this role. I'm sure she'll be great but mostly curious if this is another "Sunset" thing where the production is so precisely built around one specific person, that anyone else doing it comes off as "there's just something missing".

[binau]

Posted: 8/26/25 at 6:46am

What did you think? 

[Seb28]

Posted: 8/26/25 at 9:12am

binau said: "In my opinion, the commercial and cultural expectations for 'Evita' should be upgraded....

Plus Tonys for Best Actress, Best Actor (Diego), Revival and Director.

I've becoming addicted to the score and I I'll say the show might be the best sung-through musical we currently have "

I think it is great that you suddenly respect the show so much and Rachel is indeed wonderful in the role, but I think there have been better productions on Broadway/Tour/London.

In my opinion the commercial and cultural expectations of 'Evita' should have been upgraded before this production happened too. Especially the previous productions with much better direction, depth and fire behind it.

It seems like there is a group of people that is unaware of all the greatness already out there and only likes to surf on the wave of the next hype that is being shoved in their face at any given time. I see the same thing happening when a song that I have been listening to for years is used on TikTok or in a commercial and suddenly everyone runs after it. The song was always there, is it true interest or a sensitivity for the next hype?

I've become addicted to the score too, that is why I have been listening to the many great versions for so long. This is a great version that I have been listening to lately: