Rachel Zegler’s gig as the titular character in Jamie Lloyd’s revival of Evita at the London Palladium has been all over our social feeds thanks to her stunning performances, but she made headlines for a different reason during her latest show.
On July 24, the Cosmopolitan cover girl suddenly exited the stage mid-show as she had fallen ill. According to People, Rachel’s departure was announced during intermission, and her understudy, Bella Brown, stepped into the role despite appearing as Perón’s Mistress earlier in the night.
After a 45-minute intermission, Bella transformed into Evita just in time for the Tony-winning musical’s second act. A source in the audience told E! News, “The interval lasted almost 40 to 45 minutes and then the balcony scene with Bella began. You would have thought the roof was going to cave in from the applause. Even more so when she entered on stage for the first time after the balcony scene.”
She opened with the iconic number, “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina,” marking her second time playing Eva Perón after she made her debut on July 14.
In this production, Andrew Lloyd Webber pulled a page from his Sunset Blvd. book and takes the performance outdoors. At this point in the show, Eva sings to a crowd of Argentinians from the balcony of the Presidential Palace, which is actually the London Palladium’s balcony IRL. Since Evita’s opening night on July 1, the general public has swarmed the outside of the venue on Argyll Street to catch a glimpse of the stars in action.
After Bella carried the rest of the show in Rachel’s absence, she received a standing ovation that lasted nearly five minutes, and according to fans on social media, the cast had bowed 10 separate times during the curtain call. She expressed her appreciation for the cast, crew, and crowd with a series of Instagram Stories following the performance.
“Today really showed just how important swings and covers are within this industry,” the actress later wrote in an Instagram Story. “They are pillars of a show!! A proud day to be at Evita.” In a separate post, she added, “What a lucky audience getting to see both myself and MY ANGEL REG ZEG!!”
While we hope Rachel has a speedy recovery, her rep confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that she is scheduled to return and perform Friday evening.
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