Imagine walking under the balcony of London’s Palladium theatre at night and accidentally stumbling across Rachel Zegler’s live rendition of “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” from the West End revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, Evita.
Some people really do have all the luck.
Thankfully, for those who don’t live across the pond, there is now another way to listen to Zegler’s highly buzzed about performance: a recording of the famous number that’s now on Spotify and YouTube.
Since previews began in June, theaters fans who are aware of the clever staging—and even unsuspecting passersby—have been captivated by the now-iconic balcony scene devised by director Jamie Lloyd.
In the musical, Zegler plays Eva Perón, the second wife of Argentine president Juan Perón. Her rapid rise to political power draws harsh criticism from the upper class, who see her as manipulative and overly ambitious.
During the signature number “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina,” Eva addresses the nation, professing her love for the people and vowing to continue championing the poor despite her newfound social status.
Instead of staging the moment inside the theater, Lloyd made a bold choice: Zegler sings the song directly to the public on the street from a balcony outside the theater, while audiences inside watch a livestream version of her performance.
It’s a clever nod to what’s happening in the show at that moment: She’s singing to the masses while the bourgeois who paid handsomely for the tickets are are relegated to just seeing it on a screen.
This idea proved fruitful, as videos of Zegler’s song to the London public quickly went viral across different social media platforms. Now, it’s not unusual to see crowds of over 1,000 people gathering outside the theater, just to hear her rendition of the ballad.
Naturally, the show’s producers probably saw the virality and thought people would enjoy listening to a recording of Zegler’s performance. And they were right! They dropped two different version of “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” today: one is a studio recording, while the other is a recording of Zegler’s live performance from the balcony.
People on social media are amazed at how breathtaking her vocals are in both versions.
“On repeat for the rest of the day,” an X user wrote, posting an image of SpongeBob SquarePants wearing headphones and listening to a song in what appears to be a euphoric state.
Some people are even calling it the new “Song of the Summer” and deeming Zegler a national treasure.
All in all, it’s a good day to be a musical theater fan in the U.S. who has West End FOMO from all those videos of Zegler’s balcony tour de force..
