A Golden Globe-winning actress had to suddenly depart a performance last Thursday due to an illness.
Rachel Zegler—the 24-year-old actress who won a Globe for her starring role in Stephen Spielberg’s 2021 update of West Side Story—had to leave the London Palladium theatre during a performance of Evita on the West End, where she plays the lead role of Eva Perón.
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This new adaptation of Evita, a famous rock opera from theater legend Andrew Lloyd Webber, is Zegler’s West End debut.
According to PEOPLE, her departure was announced at intermission. Her understudy, Bella Brown, stepped in for act 2, which kicked off with the musical’s most famous tune, “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina.”
That number is the one drawing the most headlines from this new Evita, as show director Jamie Lloyd is using state-of-the-art video technology to capture a live, outdoor performance on video and stream it inside the theater. In this number, where Eva sings from the balcony of Argentina’s Presidential Palace, the balcony of the Palladium fills in as performers gather on the street below.
Brown apparently nailed it, as the audience responded to her unexpected fill-in performance by giving her a five-minute standing ovation.
“Today really showed just how important swings and covers are within this industry, she wrote on her Instagram story. “They are pillars of a show!! A proud day to be at Evita.”
In a follow-up post, she wrote, “What a lucky audience getting to see both myself and MY ANGEL REG ZEG!!”
Zegler’s been busy this year. Not only is she performing in Evita, but she also took on the lead role of Disney’s 2025 live-action adaptation of Snow White.
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