Jessica Daley saves Evita performance by travelling 150 miles

Stage star Jessica Daley saved the Curve production of Evita yesterday after a dash to the venue yesterday.

Daley, who has regularly appeared in shows at the venue including its award-winning staging of Billy Elliot, is currently touring in I Should Be So Lucky, the new jukebox musical featuring a variety of hit 90s and 00s tunes.

However, on Saturday (she currently has time off I Should Be So Lucky) she traded Astley for Argentina as she travelled 150 miles from Middlesbrough to appear in Nikolai Foster’s hit production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical.

With both the normal Evita performer Martha Kirby and her alternate Chumisa Dornford-May taken ill (Chumisa Dornford-May has now made a recovery and will be performing today), it fell to Daley to take on famous tunes from the musical. Having previously played the role on its international tour four years ago, Daley had some familiarity with the tunes – though not with the production or its blocking.

While she performed some of the show from the side of the stage, some small reblocking and adaptation allowed Daley to almost seamlessly step into the production and allow the show to go on, being met by rapturous applause by the conclusion of the night.

Director Nikolai Foster later tweeted: “A legendary night at Curve and proper Lestah welcome home for Jessica Daley. Heartfelt thanks to Jess and the entire Curve team and incredible Evita audience.”

Evita continues until 13 January.