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In Defense of Rachel Zegler and Jamie Lloyd’s Controversial ‘Evita’ Balcony Scene: It Gets to the Heart of What the Musical Is Really About
Why Rachel Zegler and Jamie Lloyd's controversial 'Evita' balcony scene is actually genius, and gets to the heart of what the show is really about.
“Evita” only just officially opened on Tuesday night, but already much noise has been made about the controversial decision by Lloyd — fresh off three Tony wins for his Broadway run of “Sunset Boulevard,” which employed similar camera techniques — to have his star perform the musical’s biggest number outside of the theater. Though her love for the people of Argentina was true, Evita got caught up in her own ambition and fell into hypocrisy — dressing head-to-toe in Christian Dior while telling the country’s poor she was one of them, chasing power by running for vice president even though she knew her health was failing. Audible gasps echoed across the theater as hundreds of fans on the street appeared over Zegler’s shoulder, accompanied by several utterances of “Jesus Christ” and “holy shit.” It was a powerful moment to see, and places the character of Perón in a much more regal light than could likely be accomplished within four walls.
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