Rachel Zegler has broken her silence over the divisive balcony scene in Evita, with the actor describing it as "wild".
The production, a revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic musical, focuses on the life of Eva Perón (Zegler), the First Lady of Argentina between 1946 and 1952. The story covers several aspects of Eva's life, ranging from her rise to power and subsequent controversies.
The current West End revival of the musical, which takes place at the London Palladium, sees The Hunger Games prequel star perform on the theatre's exterior balcony for the rendition of 'Don't Cry for Me Argentina', with the performance being broadcast to the audience via a screen.
With the balcony being located on the street-front of the theatre, the unique creative decision has meant that passers-by can see Zegler perform the iconic song if they time it right, with crowds growing with each performance.
Addressing the response, Zegler told MagicFM: "We were talking about it [the balcony scene] the other day because we'd tech'd it and maybe 20 people took photos.
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"The next day, it was like 400 people, and then it was like 800. Now I think every night we're averaging around 1,500 people. Shout-out to the Westminster Council, because it wouldn't be possible without them. But it's wild."
We at Digital Spy attended the opening-night performance on Tuesday (1 July) to check out the balcony performance, and, frankly, we believe Zegler should be given the Olivier Award already.
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Evita, which premiered on the West End in 1978, was previously adapted into a hugely successful feature film in 1996, with Madonna, Jonathan Pryce and Antonio Banderas in the lead roles.
While Zegler is currently wowing critics and audiences with her performance, the actor was recently also announced as a cast member alongside Marisa Tomei in She Gets It From Me, a comedy-drama focusing on a mother and daughter who reconnect during an "anarchic journey".
Evita runs at the London Palladium until 6 September. Tickets are available to buy now from TodayTix, Love Theatre and more.
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Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media. His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.
