Rachel Zegler hesitated when “Evita” director Jamie Lloyd pitched her on his big idea for their West End revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit musical. Zegler was portraying Argentine first lady Eva Perón as a modern pop star, and Lloyd wanted his leading lady to perform the show’s best-known song, “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina,” from a balcony facing the street while theatergoers inside watched on screens. Though divisive, Lloyd’s staging choice wasn’t just a gimmick; “Evita” chronicles the rags-to-riches story of Perón, and the scene symbolized her solidarity with the people.
As “Evita” prepares to transfer to Broadway in the spring, Lloyd is reimagining the iconic balcony sequence to work for Times Square — and theater fans are clamboring to find out how it’ll be staged from the Winter Garden Theatre. They’ll have to wait: Zegler isn’t about to give up the surprise. She was plucked from obscurity as a high schooler to lead Steven Spielberg’s 2021 film adaptation of “West Side Story” and parlayed her fame into leading roles in movies (“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes,” “Snow White”) and on the stage (in the Broadway revival of “Romeo + Juliet”).
Helping Zegler recapture the electricity of “Evita” on Broadway are her West End co-stars Diego Andres Rodriguez and James Olivas. Rodriguez, 25, playing the everyman narrator Che, is returning to the New York stage after his turn in Lloyd’s popular “Sunset Boulevard” revival. Olivas, 29, is making his Broadway debut as President Juan Perón.
No shortage of theater luminaries and stars — from Elaine Paige and Patti LuPone to Mandy Patinkin (as well as Madonna and Antonio Banderas in the 1996 film adaptation) — have brought “Evita” to life. But as Zegler, Rodriguez and Olivas point out, Lloyd’s production is unique because all three leads are Latino — a responsibility they don’t take lightly. Rachel Zegler: As soon as Diego had been cast as Che, I went to see him in “Sunset Blvd.” I was immediately taken with him.
I didn’t get to meet James until our first day in London. My first impression was “He is so tall. I don’t know what I’m going to do eight times a week, having to kiss this really tall man and hurt my neck.” And then I immediately fell in love with him, just like everybody else on that job.
Diego Andres Rodriguez: I remember being 17 and watching “West Side Story” in the theaters. I was like, “This is exactly what I want to do.” It’s such a full-circle moment to take the stage with Rachel. And I finally met James in London.
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