Rachel Zegler’s ‘Evita’ is coming to Broadway in Jamie Lloyd’s new production
Rachel Zegler is bringing “Evita” back to Broadway.
Jamie Lloyd’s new production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Evita” will play the Winter Garden Theatre, with previews beginning Saturday, February 27, 2027, before a Thursday, March 25, 2027, opening night.
Zegler, an Olivier Award- and Golden Globe-winner, will star as Eva Perón, the Argentine first lady whose rise from poverty to political power became one of musical theater’s most enduring portraits of ambition, image, and public devotion.
Zegler, as Perón does not simply enter “Evita.” She takes it. The musical gives her one of the most famous scores in modern theater, including “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina,” “Oh, What a Circus,” “Another Suitcase in Another Hall,” and “You Must Love Me.”
“Evita” has always had a strange kind of power. It began as a 1976 concept album by Lloyd Webber and Rice before becoming a stage musical. The stage production opened in London in 1978 at the Prince Edward Theatre with Elaine Paige as Perón and Harold Prince directing. A year later, “Evita” arrived on Broadway at the Broadway Theatre with Patti LuPone as Perón, Mandy Patinkin as Che, and Bob Gunton as Juan Perón. The Broadway production became a major event, earning Tony Awards, including Best Musical, with LuPone and Patinkin also winning for their performances.
That history matters because Lloyd’s new “Evita” is not arriving as a museum piece. His production, first seen at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in 2019 and later mounted at the London Palladium with Zegler, has been framed as a leaner, sharper look at celebrity, politics, and the crowd. That makes sense for “Evita.” This has always been a show about performance — not just on a stage, but in public life. Perón understands the balcony. She understands the camera before the camera even gets there. She understands that love from the people can become its own kind of power.
Zegler’s West End performance made noise. The London Palladium engagement sold out, and she went on to win the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical. The production also received major recognition in the London Standard Theatre Awards and the WhatsOnStage Awards. Broadway will now get the next test: whether that London heat can fill one of New York’s most famous musical houses.
Additional casting, including an alternate for Eva Perón, will be announced later. Zegler will not perform at every show, so theatergoers will want to check the performance schedule before buying tickets.
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