Eva Peron has found her waltzing partner.
Diego Andres Rodriguez, currently making his Broadway debut as Artie in the acclaimed revival of Sunset Blvd., will play Che in Jamie Lloyd's upcoming revival of Evita at the London Palladium. That role will mark Rodriguez's West End debut.
As previously reported, Rachel Zegler (West Side Story, Romeo + Juliet, Snow White) will star in the title role of the Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, which will begin previews June 14 prior to an official opening July 1 at the London venue. Performances are currently scheduled through September 6.
In a statement director Lloyd said, 鈥淏efore he even graduated, Diego made his professional debut as Artie in our
production of Sunset Blvd. on Broadway, in which he also understudied
and played the leading role, Joe Gillis. He is an incredible young actor
and a fantastic vocalist. We鈥檙e so thrilled he will be making his West
End debut in Tim and Andrew鈥檚 iconic musical.鈥�
Actor Rodriguez added, 鈥淚鈥檓 beyond thrilled to be making my West End debut in Evita this summer at the historic London Palladium! Being directed by Jamie Lloyd again, working with The Jamie Lloyd Company鈥檚 incredible team, and playing Che opposite Rachel is an opportunity of a lifetime. This is a dream come true!鈥�
Additional casting and creative team members will be announced at a later date.
The through-sung musical follows Eva Duarte, an illegitimate young
girl from Los Toldos, who rose from anonymity to become an actress and
eventually the First Lady of Argentina before her tragic death from
cancer at the age of 33. Song titles include "Don鈥檛 Cry for Me Argentina," "Buenos Aires," "Rainbow High," and "High
Flying Adored," among others.
Evita originally premiered as a two-LP recording in 1976 starring Julie Covington in the title role and Colm Wilkinson as Che. Harold Prince staged both the original London and New York productions of the musical, which made stars of Elaine Paige in London in 1978 and Mandy Patinkin and Patti LuPone the following year on Broadway, where it won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Lloyd Webber and Rice had previously collaborated on Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Jesus Christ Superstar. Evita would mark their last major collaboration together.
Madonna, Antonio Banderas, and Jonathan Pryce starred in the 1996 film version of Evita. Though 2012 was the last Broadway revival of Evita (starring Elena Roger and Ricky Martin), there have been attempts to bring it back to the Main Stem. The most recent New York production, staged at City Center in November 2019, featured Solea Pfeiffer and Maia Reficco splitting the titular role under the direction of Sammi Cannold. That same production was then staged in Washington, D.C. and Cambridge, Massachusetts鈥攖hough future plans have not materialized.
Lloyd first directed Evita at Regent鈥檚 Park Open Air Theatre as part of its 2019 season.
The upcoming revival is produced by Michael Harrison for Lloyd Webber Harrison Musicals and Lloyd for The Jamie Lloyd Company by arrangement with The Really Useful Group Ltd.
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