Lord Lloyd-Webber says lesson of Evita ‘more important’ now due to extremism

Lord Lloyd-Webber has said the lesson of Evita is “even more important” now than it might have been at the time the musical was written due to the rise of extremism, which is “beginning to show its voice all over Europe”.

Set in Argentina between 1934 and 1952, the musical by Lord Lloyd-Webber, 77, and Sir Tim Rice charts the rise of Eva Peron, from a poor child to ambitious actress-turned-wife of populist leader president Juan Peron.

The musical was recently revived at the London Palladium, starring Rachel Zegler as Eva, the first lady of Argentina, who was idolised as a “champion of the poor” and helped women obtain the right to vote.

“I think that the story of Evita is really even more relevant today than it may have been at the time,” Lord Lloyd-Webber told the PA news agency.

“When it was written, Britain was going through a moment where it basically looked as if extremism was really taking over and it was a horrible time.

“I mean, the IRA were throwing bombs around London. There was talk about private armies. There were all sorts of things.

“Now, today, we’re seeing extremism beginning to show its voice all over Europe, on both the left and the right, and it really is a lesson about how and what happens if an extremist government or an extremist person gets to power.

“In the case of Argentina, of course, it was one of the richest countries in the world and the Perons basically bankrupted it, and it’s what happens when you allow an extremist, and particularly in the case of Eva Peron, a very attractive extremist, to get power.

“I think, therefore, the lesson right now is even more important for people to take home than it was maybe when we wrote it.”

The recent staging of Evita drew large outdoor crowds while Zegler performed the musical’s most popular number, Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, from an outside balcony.

Lord Lloyd-Webber said he did a deal with the council to allow them to perform the balcony scene.

He said: “We said to the council we wanted to do this. They said, ‘Oh no, you can’t close the street, it’s bad for the local businesses. No, no, no, no, no’.

“My theatre people, because the Palladium is one of my theatres, we really, really went on with the council, and Rachel doesn’t know this, but we did a deal.

“They said, ‘Well, OK, well, we might consider it if she does West End Live in Trafalgar Square’. So we all said, ‘Absolutely, she’s going to do it’, and of course she did because she’s, you know, fabulous like that. But many artists might not.”

US star Zegler, 24, rose to fame after staring as Maria in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story.

Lord Lloyd-Webber said: “We were, I think, blessed with really the greatest Evita we could possibly have found in Rachel Zegler. I mean, it was absolutely extraordinary what she did.

“Unlike with any of the other productions, she did basically all of the shows.

“When originally Evita came on the Eva only did six shows a week, and there was an alternate for two shows, and that’s always been the case since then.

“But she did, with only like four shows’ exception, she played all eight, which was extraordinary.

“I mean, I’m not sure how advisable it is actually, because the voice is a muscle and you don’t want to strain it, but I’ve never seen a performance from a young girl like Rachel.”

Live recordings of Jamie Lloyd’s production have now been turned into an album comprising songs such as Buenos Aires and A New Argentina.

Lord Lloyd-Webber said: “One thing about this recording is that absolutely nothing, nothing, has been done to enhance it, or do anything silly, or replace vocals or anything like that. I mean, nothing’s been done to tune them. All recordings these days tend to be that, but it’s what you heard, what you see is on the ticket.

“It’s live from the Palladium. The only thing that I’ve done is I’ve actually doubled up the drums on one of the tracks, you know, by a delayed echo. That’s the only change.”

Evita the album is available to stream now, with the physical vinyl and CD available for pre-order.