Jamie Lloyd’s Evita at the London Palladium left me on a Five Star Rainbow High
The day finally came and I got to go and see Jamie Lloyd‘s brand new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s musical, Evita. And I only paid £20! Keep reading to find out how.
When I say I spent the entire 2 hours 20 minutes of the show with my mouth wide open in wonderment, I actually mean it. It would be difficult to say if this is the best show I have ever seen live on stage but it’s certainly up there. Let’s just say it is absolutely the best show I have seen so far this year – and it will take a lot to top it.
Rachel Zegler is sensational as Eva Perón but it is Diego Andres Rodriguez‘s Che that really holds the show together as the narrator of the story. Quite why he ends up in his underwear, covered in multicoloured paint at the end i’m not sure (but no one in the auditorium complained). The whole ensemble is tight and every person is phenomenal to watch.
Fabian Aloise‘s Choreography is powerful and Soutra Gilmour‘s Set and Costume Design is sleek.
Fuelled by ambition and passion, Eva Perón rose from poverty to become the most powerful woman in Latin America. A symbol of hope to many Argentines, her star shone brightly as she captured the nation’s heart and divided its soul.
Featuring an iconic score including Buenos Aires, A New Argentina, Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, Oh What A Circus, Another Suitcase in Another Hall, Rainbow High and You Must Love Me, Evita has so many great songs and Jamie Lloyd’s stripped back direction brings this historical story in to the modern day world of electric dance pop.
I have to mention the iconic ‘balcony scene’ which opens act 2. This is where the story does come to life. The moment when Eva sings Don’t Cry For Me Argentina on a balcony, looking down on ‘the people’ could not have more naturally manifested itself. Looking out of the window of the theatre during the interval, there must have been at least 300 people waiting outside to catch a glimpse of this iconic moment. There were people waiting before the show even began.
As a sung-through piece, I have always struggled to follow the story of Evita on stage and taking away the set and costumes that we usually see which help us to guide our way is a bold move. However, it’s 2025 and in this world of social media, a quick google tells you everything you need to know (I first realised this when I saw Hadestown and had to Google the story in the interval to figure out WTF was happening).
Theatre should pull you in to the story, engage you and leave you talking about it and asking questions. Theatre can be a great history lesson and a springboard for further studying (after seeing Get Up, Stand Up The Bob Marley Musical, it led me to watch several documentaries about him to find out more). Does this production of Evita do that? Yes!
Evita’s tagline is “the truth is I never left you” – and this show is going to stay with me for a long time.
★★★★★
West End Wilma
How I got to see the West End production of Jamie Lloyd’s Evita for just £20
Book in advance and keep checking the official website as you never know when seats may randomly appear!
When I first looked at booking tickets for Evita in London, everything was out of my price range (if you look now you won’t find a tickets for less than £100 for any performance) but I held my nerve and every day, I went back to the official ticketing website just to see if anything else had been released. And low and behold this front row, restricted side view seat suddenly appeared – and I bought it for just £20!
Sometimes you may finding cheaper ‘standing tickets’ will appear in the run up to the date of the show and so there are several reasons why tickets may appear out of nowhere.
How was the view from my £20 ticket to Evita?
You can see from the picture that yes, it is a restricted view but I would say I only missed 10% of the show because the action was taking place out of my view. For the most part, the performers are at the front on the steps and the big dance numbers have them all across the stage, so you can see what is happening.
