What’s The Point of Evita?

And the money kept rolling in from every side…

IF you’re familiar with your folklore, you’ll know the story of The Emperor’s New Clothes in which there is a vain king, who’ll do anything to dress to impress, even if it ends up making him look rather stupid.

Basically, a show off.

In 2025, director Jamie Lloyd is more of a mogul and less of an auteur.

Now, in Lloyd’s Evita, Rachel Zegler surprises hundreds of fans when she steps onto The London Palladium’s exterior balcony to sing Don’t Cry For Me Argentina —a controversial staging choice for some.

Zegler performs not inside the auditorium but outside, live on the balcony. Her performance is broadcast via video to a large screen within the theatre, blending of live theatre and cinematic mediation.

Lloyd previously directed Evita at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre six years ago, and his fingerprints are unmistakable here once again.

While Zegler sings to the crowds outside—symbolically placing Perón among her people—those of us inside are left watching from a screen, making the audience itself part of the spectacle.

The Ryan Murphy of theatre, Lloyd favours stylised minimalism and concepts over sets and props. His acclaimed Much Ado About Nothing transformed Shakespeare’s lovers amid endless pink confetti.

But his hit-or-miss approach isn’t without flaws—his critically panned Tempest did little to flatter Sigourney Weaver’s legacy. Poor cow. (“Sometimes a production can be blazing away in rehearsal then around the press performances there’s extra pressure and things shift a bit and it wasn’t at its very best,” Lloyd said recently).

If anything, the latest Lloyd project feels like lagging indicators of the broader zeitgeist.

Instead, the endless deluge of typical Lloyd fare continues: cast a celebrity, dress them in black leisurewear, lead male stripped to the waist, crank up the dry ice, dim the lights, and absolutely no costumes.

Anyway. I saw the second preview of Evita last night.

For me, the Don’t Cry for Me Argentina scene is the only thing that really works— it’s slick, high quality. The staging is not just theatrically effective, but thematically resonant; it sobbingly pleads with its listeners to do the opposite of what it says.

However, everything else feels rushed in Jamie Lloyd’s rapid-fire Evita—scenes blur in a conceptual fog. Literally. Zegler, in fine voice, gets lost—Evita evaporates.

Some of it is so off—no timing, no rhythm, no point—you hate yourself for watching. But when it’s good, it’s good. But like I say, you can’t keep up with it all.

Indeed, sending Zegler - in a dress that's a puff of white gauze - out into the real world isn’t an outlier for Lloyd. In his Olivier and Tony-winning revival of Sunset Boulevard, Tom Francis famously wandered out onto the street mid-show. It worked. With Evita, he doubles down on this approach.

I guess it’s free publicity, too.

If you are in central London around 9.00pm you too can watch this for free. Around 600 people gathered yesterday outside.

For many, Lloyd has cashed in on creating like-minded shows that feel like one long continuous sequel.

It’s our funeral, too.

Evita runs at London Palladium from June 14 until September 6