EVITA at the London Palladium

The London Palladium on Thursday 3 July entertained 50 members of Bromley and Beckenham Theatre groups among its audience of 2200. How welcome it was to leave the heat of Argyll Street and enter the air-conditioned auditorium of the cavernous Palladium.

The curtain went up to display a large block of letters E V I T A at the top of a series of six wide steps spread across the stage on which the ensemble are crouched in dark coats. They are mourning the death of Evita. Yes the production starts at the end of Evita's life and the narrator Che - played strongly by Diego Andres Rodriguez in his West End debut - sings us through the life of the ambitious Eva Duarte. Behind the EV I T A letters the music blasts out from an 18-piece orchestra. The sound is rock concert loud. 

This show is produced by Jamie Lloyd who first presented it at Regent's Park Open Air theatre in Summer 2019. He has enhanced that show which, for me, was spellbinding. 

The star of the show is Rachel Zegler who plays Evita. She has starred in two films West End Story and Snow White and here she is all 5 feet of her acting and singing her socks off. She has huge stage presence and is on stage most of the time dressed in bra and shorts scheming her way up the social ladder until she meets Juan Peron, played satisfactorily by James Olivas. Rachel's voice range is incredible. The balcony scene for Don't Cry for me Argentina where she sings to the assembled crowd in Argyll Street whilst it is video fed to the theatre is cleverly done and doesn't make you feel short changed in the Stalls! 

Choreography by Fabian Aloise was mesmerising and the ensemble danced with sexual energy, aggression and charisma. Lighting, design, ticker tape and streamers before the interval were all memorable. This was a very polished production Theatre group members were buzzing from what was a hugely uplifting afternoon. Then it was off to Oh What An (Oxford) Circus for the journey home!

Contributed byAnn Dalton