I cannot believe that you all have me on the internet defending an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical but so be it. If it is my way of defending Rachel Zegler, then I will do it. People are constantly mad at her for no reason. Including for her Evita.
The musical Evita features Eva Perón, the former first lady of Argentina. She famously did a speech on a balcony and it was turned into a musical detailing her life and rise to power. The song “Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina” is a representation of this speech and is Eva’s plea to her people to know that everything she did was for her love of her home.
Rachel Zegler is in a Jamie Lloyd production of the Webber musical in London currently. Lloyd has become known for his use of outside the theater as part of the show. Famously, his Sunset Boulevard puts one of the more recognizable songs from the show (the titular song to be clear) outside of the theater. Watching it in the theater is captivating and beautiful and yet this production of Evita has been getting flack from people who have not seen the production.
Zegler’s Perón performs the iconic song on the balcony of the theater, outside with the public watching. People have gathered to see Zegler do it night after night and that’s very fitting for the history being presented for the audience. Yes, it faced criticism since it is the most famous song from the show and it is not being performed for those buying the tickets.
However, if you’ve seen Sunset Boulevard, you know how effective this can actually be for the show itself. And seeing an adoring public looking up at Zegler does work for me. And yet, the internet is mad at her.
It’s not Rachel Zegler’s fault, you buffoons.
Evita is a Jamie Lloyd production. Meaning that this was Lloyd’s choice as a director. And Zegler is simply following the direction given to her. Still, she ends up getting smear pieces like this one from the New York Post written about her.
The hate given to Rachel Zegler is truly baffling to me. She has done nothing wrong and yet she is constantly having to deal with people criticizing her every move. She points out that Snow White as a character is not exactly a feminist icon and gets raked over the coals for it. Sorry, but she was right! I hate the character because of how the 1937 film.
Everything that Zegler does is criticized by those who just want to hate her for no reason and this is literally no different. Why write that piece? All you wanted to do was continue the hate train because there is no reason to put blame on Zegler in this situation. She’s an actress being directed in a musical by a director.
And even so, again, this staging MAKES SENSE to me! I’m not the biggest Webber fan but I do think that watching as crowds gather to watch Zegler as Perón sing outside is way more impactful than Zegler standing on a staged balcony where only those in the orchestra can fully see her.
(featured image: Belinda Jiao/Getty Images)
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