High flying, adored – a history of London’s Evitas

Oh, what a circus, oh what a show! Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Evita arrives back in London this summer.

Jamie Lloyd is on directorial duties once more with a new revival led this time by stage and screen star Rachel Zegler.

The much-loved musical follows the life of Eva Perón. By playing with politics, she quickly rose to fame in Buenos Aires, becoming the first lady to the Argentine president, Juan Perón, before her tragic death at the age of only 33. Immortalised on film by the legendary Madonna, the role is famously a tricky big sing.

These ladies have certainly got potential!

Julie Covington

Okay, she isn’t strictly a West End Evita, but she inspired them all! Rice shared during his My Life in Musicals tour that he was inspired to write about Eva after hearing about her on the radio. He recalls driving to a friend’s house for dinner, running late, and by chance hearing the end of the segment. Managing to listen to a replay in full later on, he and Webber put together the 1976 concept album (it had worked so well before with Jesus Christ Superstar!), which had Julie Covington lend her voice to the title character, creating the definitive “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina”.

Elaine Paige

Just two years later, in 1978, Evita debuted in the West End. Building on Covington’s foundations, Elaine Paige was the first performer to play Eva on stage. Paige won the Olivier Award for her performance, and it became definitive in the canon. She was succeeded by another famous Evita, Marti Webb, who had acted as an alternate. Webb’s alternate was then the late, great Stephanie Lawrence.

For the Broadway opening the following year, Patti LuPone repeated Paige’s success, bagging the Tony Award for her portrayal in 1979. Mandy Patinkin played the everyman Che, marking his breakthrough in musical theatre.

Siobhán McCarthy originated the role of the Mistress in the London cast, and later returned to the show to take on the title role. Kathryn Evans was the final actress in Hal Prince’s original staging. All aforementioned famously (or, in some cases, infamously) went on to work with Webber again.

Elena Roger

Buenos Aires-native Elena Roger led the 2006 revival of Evita at the Adelphi Theatre, directed by Michael Grandage. She gave a diamond of a performance, receiving an Olivier Award nomination and even returning to the role six years later on Broadway.

Madalena Alberto

Madalena Alberto first led a UK tour of the musical before its stop in the West End, with Marti Pellow as her Che. The two appeared together to reopen the newly refurbished Dominion Theatre, where Alberto received a WhatsOnStage Award nomination!

Other touring Evitas include Abigail Jaye, Louise Dearman and Rachael Wooding.

Emma Hatton

Just like the money, the West End mountings kept rolling in! Bill Kenwright’s tour set out once more with Emma Hatton in the leading role. It arrived back in the West End for a limited run at the Phoenix Theatre in 2017.

Samantha Pauly

Samantha Pauly has had a long-standing relationship with Evita, having played the title role in two states before landing the lead in Lloyd’s open-air revival. Supposedly, she was cast at the same time as she was offered Katherine Howard in Six in Chicago. Miraculously, Pauly managed to make both jobs work and was the first to climb the industrial steps while wearing white canvas trainers as the modern Evita we’ve come to know.

Auli’i Cravalho

Between voicing Moana and playing Janis in the Mean Girls musical movie, Auli’i Cravalho was a West End Evita! Accompanied by the 30-piece London Musical Theatre Orchestra, a concert staging took place at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in 2023.

The same year, Martha Kirby led Nikolai Foster’s festive revival at Curve in Leicester, adding a social media influencer spin in an industrial setting. Olivier Award nominee Chumisa Dornford-May played the Mistress and covered the title role. However, when both performers found themselves ill, there was no need to cry! Jessica Daley, who had toured with the show before, stepped in to sing the score with just a few hours’ notice and saved the show.

Rachel Zegler

Rachel Zegler is making her West End debut this summer in an “evolution” of Lloyd’s open-air staging of Evita. Known for playing Maria in the recent West Side Story film adaptation and Juliet in Broadway’s Tony Award-nominated Romeo and Juliet, she’s a certified fan of performing on balconies! This Evita sees the production moved inside The London Palladium – though, there is speculation whether that’s the case for a certain showstopping moment. We can’t wait to see what Zegler and the team, including her alternate Bella Brown, have in store this summer!