EVITA! EVITA! EVITA!

Oh my lord, I have just returned home from seeing Evita at the London Palladium starring Rachel Zegler. I had everything crossed that Rachel would be on as, although I do not have a problem with seeing understudies, I missed out on Amber Riley in Dreamgirls, my main reason for booking, as she was ill the night I went and I am a HUGE Rachel Zegler fan since seeing West Side Story and the Hunger Games prequel thing she did (I have not seen Snow White, at the time of writing, as I have heard nothing but bad things about the film as a whole and I am, therefore, scared to watch it) so really hoped I wouldn't miss out this time. Thankfully she and all other principals were on this afternoon and not one of them disappointed.

I will get to the cast in due course but my first bout of praise must go to the musical director, the orchestra and the sound department. Andrew Lloyd Webber has NEVER sounded so good. The orchestrations were electric. Not a single note was out of place, tempos were perfect, it was neither too loud nor too quiet it was quite simply perfection. Bravi a tutti!

As it was a Jamie Lloyd production, sets and costumes were minimalistic but this gave the lighting department the opportunity to throw the kitchen sink in all it's glory at the lighting design. Stunning is all I have to say about that.

So this brings us onto the cast. I apologise that this post is just a load of gushing but I don't have a bad word to say about anyone. Diego Andres Rodriguez was the Che. This was his West End Debut and only the second professional credit in his biography. It was perfect casting and although I am a great believer in actors earning their stripes, it would have been a travesty if this fabulous actor had been overlooked due to lack of experience. He is going places for sure. It's a tricky part really as Che Guevara's inclusion in the story of Eva Peron is contentious, to say the least, as historically they never met, but at least his name is recognisable and he was as prominent in South America as Peron but don't worry this is not a history lesson as I really know nowt. James Olivas was Juan Peron and boy oh boy what a beautiful voice. There was also great work from Aaron Lee Lambert as Magaldi and Bella Brown as the mistress.

So Rachel Zegler, is she worthy of the hype? In a word, YES! Firstly her voice is SO beautiful and she paces the performance brilliantly. She sings with total ease. If I were to have one tiny criticism it might be that it was, vocally, too safe but I went on a Thursday matinee so she is probably very aware that she would have another show to do in the evening so I forgive her. She is not as natural a dancer as those in the ensemble but she holds her own and makes up for it with astonishing energy and commitment to the role. At the beginning of Act 2 a screen is brought in and we watched her sing on the balcony overlooking Argyll Street and I was not prepared for how hard this ingenious bit of staging would hit. When the camera pans across the gathered crowd on the street below it feels like we are watching the crowd that could have gathered to listen to Evita back in the day (albeit with mobile phones held aloft to record this extraordinary moment) and when she finishes the iconic "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" we in the theatre hear the crowd cheering for Eva outside. It is quite spine-tingling. Whoever came up with this is a blooming genius.

Last but by no means least I have to give the ensemble the final word. Back in 2003/4 I was in the ensemble of Jerry Springer: The Opera and we won a collective Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical, if there is any justice in this world this ensemble should also win a similar accolade. They rarely left the stage and were quite simply dazzling both vocally and physically. Buenos Aries and A New Argentina will live rent-free in my head for the rest of my days. 

Although it is probably unlikely, I would love there to be a cast recording of this production of Evita as it was breath-taking, astonishing, glorious and somewhat life-changing. The whole trip has left me inspired and, just putting it out there, if they do end up recording this cast and need an extra soprano I would be happy to step in!