{"id":343964,"date":"2026-03-23T17:08:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T17:08:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/343964\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T17:08:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T17:08:18","slug":"rachel-zegler-waits-for-evita-broadway-transfer-amid-safety-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/343964\/","title":{"rendered":"Rachel Zegler Waits For ‘Evita’ Broadway Transfer Amid Safety Concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t
EXCLUSIVE: The fact that it\u2019s not safe for\u00a0Evita<\/a>\u00a0star Rachel Zegler<\/a> to reprise her West End\u00a0coup de th\u00e9\u00e2tre\u00a0outdoor balcony performance of\u00a0\u00a0\u201cDon\u2019t Cry for Me Argentina\u201d for its anticipated Broadway transfer \u201cis alarming in what it says about America,\u201d says her co-star Diego Andres Rodriguez, who played Che in director Jamie Lloyd\u2019s\u00a0celebrated revival of the Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.<\/p>\n

\n\tRodriguez, who appeared in the New York production of Lloyd\u2019s\u00a0Sunset Boulevard, adds that \u201dit\u2019s worrying\u201d that the animosity felt towards Zegler in some quarters could lead to harm if she re-enacted that one sizzling scene in an open space.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen the show ran at the London Palladium last summer, hundreds of passers-by would gather outside the landmark theater to witness Zegler singing live<\/a>, for free, while her performance was beamed onto screens to the audience inside.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Rachel<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tRachel Zegler performs \u201cDon\u2019t Cry For Me Argentina\u201d on the Palladium balcony in London<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJeff Spicer\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\n\tPrivate security guards kept order while Zegler sang.<\/p>\n

\n\tEarlier this month, Lloyd Webber proclaimed in an interview with\u00a0USA Today<\/a>\u00a0that \u201cthe one thing that absolutely cannot happen is what we did in London on the balcony. We can\u2019t do that in New York. I mean, something awful could happen,\u201d chillingly adding, \u201dWe have gun laws in London.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRodriguez expressed his concern during a conversation with Deadline on Sunday night at the Standard Theatre Awards<\/a>, hosted by Mason Alexander Park, star of the London production of\u00a0Oh, Mary!\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe ceremony was held at Stud House in Hampton Court, the private home of Standard owner Evgeny Lebedev, set in ancient parklands once used as Henry VIII\u2019s royal hunting grounds.<\/p>\n

\n\tZegler, who took the prize for Best Musical Performance (the show also won Best Musical Production), looked forlorn when the subject of the balcony was raised. She says she\u2019s waiting to see whether or not\u00a0Evita\u00a0will transfer, and she\u2019ll \u201csee what happens then.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tRachel Zegler at the Standard Theatre Awards<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBaz Bamigboye\/Deadline<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m told officially that \u201cnothing is confirmed\u201d for Broadway yet.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut back to the posh party. It was a fun, lively affair in a stunning 18th century pile originally built for the sovereign\u2019s Master of the Horse. Around 50 guests attended, which made for an intimate occasion. Back in the day a vast guest list \u2014 maybe 400-500 \u2014 attended a grand luncheon at the Savoy Hotel. This was not of that size, but in a way it was grander with liveried staff and the very best silverware and an Old Master hanging in one of the loos.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe front door to Stud House leads directly to a vast gallery hall where we\u2019re greeted by modern artworks such as one of Anselm Kiefer\u2019s forgotten women of antiquity sculptures \u2014 a half-body mannequin shrouded\u00a0\u00a0in white crinoline skirts \u2014 and a nude Sleeping Beauty encased in a glass coffin.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tInto such a place came thespian artists draped in their finest including Cate Blanchett<\/a>, a nominee for her performance as Arkadina in director Thomas Ostermeier\u2019s thrilling Barbican Theatre production of Chekhov\u2019s\u00a0The Seagull.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tCate Blanchett<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBaz Bamigboye\/Deadline<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Oscar-winning actress would like to transfer\u00a0The Seagull\u00a0to Broadway but she\u2019d also welcome the opportunity of taking the play to Schaub\u00fchne Berlin, where Ostermeier is artistic director, and then onto \u201cplaces like Greece.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut gathering the ensemble together is tricky due to busy schedules, Blanchett says.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Seagull cast included Tom Burke, Emma Corrin, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jason Watkins, Tanya Reynolds, Priyanga Burford, Paul Higgins, Zachary Hart and Paul Bazeley. They\u2019re all still in touch via a group chat they\u2019ve dubbed the \u201cnudists colony,\u201d Blanchett reveals.<\/p>\n

\n\tBefore I had a chance to probe further, Hayley Atwell<\/a> along with her husband, the musician and singer Ned Wolfgang Kelly, entered the salon. I\u2019ve known her forever\u00a0and I didn\u2019t recognize her. \u201cIt\u2019s the hair,\u201c she says patting her head. \u201cIt\u2019s all gone; you\u2019re used to seeing it long.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tNed Wolfgang Kelly and Hayley Atwell<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBaz Bamigboye\/Deadline<\/p>\n

\n\tWinners and a few nominees were on the guest list, and Atwell\u2019s name was on the winning column for Best Actress in a Play for her Beatrice opposite Tom Hiddleston\u2019s Benedick in\u00a0Much Ado About Nothing\u00a0at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane last year, also directed by Jamie Lloyd.<\/p>\n

\n\tIts Broadway transfer is already set for a 10-week engagement in the fall.<\/p>\n

\n\tAtwell also stars with Gerard Butler in Empire City, which director Michael Matthews recently shot in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

\n\tNow she\u2019s shooting\u00a0Treasure Island\u00a0for Colin Callender\u2019s Playground Entertainment with David Oyelowo and Jack Huston. \u201cIt\u2019s all men, and I play Bess, a role that\u2019s not in Robert Louis Stevenson\u2019s book,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tHayley Atwell<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBaz Bamigboye\/Deadline<\/p>\n

\n\tI stroll over to my old friend Stephen Fry<\/a>, who is busy preparing to shoot a spy drama for Fox called\u00a0The Interrogator, a story Deadline broke<\/a> back in February.<\/p>\n

\n\tFry disclosed that he wrote the show\u2019s pilot script 11 years ago and it\u2019s been bobbing about ever since. Until now. The series will be shot in Madrid, Spain standing in for the U.S. Fry will play a former MI6 operative who uses his skill set to \u201cgain, not the truth, but information that will lead me to the truth that will prevent\u201d a horrific incident.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s been around for 11 years but it\u2019s only just now come together, but very quickly,\u201d Fry says.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe actor, writer presenter and producer had planned to transfer with the National Theatre\u2019s\u00a0revival of\u00a0The Importance of Being Earnest. \u201cThe idea was that I\u2019d take my Lady Bracknell, the one I did when it moved into the West End, to Broadway,\u201d but now it will scoot over there next year instead.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t(L-R) Ava Joe, Patrick Kinmonth and Stephen Fry<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBaz Bamigboye\/Deadline<\/p>\n

\n\tBoth Fry and Blanchett were awarded honorary prizes in Lord Lebedev\u2019s gift.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe prized busts were handing out in a break during a splendid dinner. The menu had delights such as lightly smoked salmon tartare with jasmine caviar in a smoked dashi broth, miso aubergine, and aged beef fillet with a truffle cream tartlet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe judging panel, on which I sit,\u00a0chose James Graham<\/a>\u2019s amazing drama\u00a0\u00a0Punch,\u00a0featuring an unbelievably brilliant\u00a0performance by David Shield, as Best Play.<\/p>\n

\n\tI laughed when the playwright revealed that he has been working as a consultant on\u00a0Saturday Night Live UK. The very mention of the title made me chuckle, which was odd considering no smile passed my miserable lips whilst watching the darn show<\/a> over the weekend; others enjoyed far more than I did. I will say that it was remiss of me not to have acknowledged that the one and only performance that I liked, a lot, was that of Jack Shep\u2019s comic shy Di portrait of Princess Diana in a last supper sketch.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t(L-R) David Shields and James Graham<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBaz Bamigboye\/Deadline<\/p>\n

\n\tGraham says they learned a lot from Saturday\u2019s premiere and \u201cthere\u2019s been a lot to discuss,\u201d and that it\u2019s a question of stamping a \u201cBritish identity\u201d on the show and bringing forth our natural humor. And I wish them all well. I\u2019m being polite.<\/p>\n

\n\tGraham\u2019s Dear England football miniseries drama will play on the BBC during the World Cup. Can\u2019t wait to see it. Shields portrays midfielder Jordan Henderson in the show that stars Joseph Fiennes as England\u2019s men\u2019s team manager.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe actor also has a role portraying New Yorker writer John Hersey, who wrote about John F. Kennedy\u2019s bravery in World War II, in the eight-part Netflix miniseries\u00a0Kennedy, starring Michael Fassbender and Laura Donnelly as Joe and Rose Kennedy.<\/p>\n

\n\tSeated to my right at the communal banquet table Sunday was 23-year-old Grace Oddie-James, without doubt a star-in-the-making who made an immediate impression in Simon Stone\u2019s adaptation of\u00a0The Lady from the Sea\u00a0at the Bridge Theatre last fall. My fellow drama awards judges and I voted to bestow the Emerging Talent trophy to Oddie-James, who acts and writes.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGrace Oddie-Jones<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBaz Bamigboye\/Deadline<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Oxford University graduate will join a production of\u00a0As You Like It\u00a0at Shakespeare\u2019s Globe that\u2019s being co-directed by Charlie Josephine (he\u2019s also playing Orlando)\u00a0and Sean Holmes. Lola Shalam will star as Rosalind and Oddie-James has been picked to play Celia. The production runs August 14-October 25.<\/p>\n

\n\tAudiences packed out London\u2019s Almeida Theatre during the run of Ava Pickett\u2019s fascinating debut play\u00a01536\u00a0directed by Lyndsey Turner, exploring the impact of Anne Boleyn\u2019s impending execution in 1536 on a trio of everyday English women. It\u2019s being filmed as a drama series, and beginning May 2 the play directed by Turner transfers to the Ambassadors Theatre for a three-month season. We decided that Pickett was our winner in the hotly contested Emerging Talent award.<\/p>\n

\n\tI wandered around the ground floor with its conservatory, comfy reception rooms and endless passages lined with art and candles and I could hear singer Ava Joe and guitarist Will Jones setting up to serenade us. What a splendid way to spend an evening at an awards ceremony that made up its own rules.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd no red carpet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: The fact that it\u2019s not safe for\u00a0Evita\u00a0star Rachel Zegler to reprise her West End\u00a0coup de th\u00e9\u00e2tre\u00a0outdoor balcony…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":343965,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[4898,156,183398,183154,109353,111,139,69,116065,60621,183399,437],"class_list":["post-343964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-cate-blanchett","tag-entertainment","tag-evita","tag-hayley-atwell","tag-james-graham","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-rachel-zegler","tag-stephen-fry","tag-the-standard-theatre-awards","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=343964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/343965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}