Rachel Zegler cast in West End musical Evita as the beleaguered actress lands second shot at Hollywood following ‘woke’ Snow White disaster

Rachel Zegler has landed her second shot at Hollywood after being cast in Jamie Lloyd’s new production of iconic musical Evita in London’s West End later this year.

The actress, 23, is currently engulfed in controversy amid the release of Disney’s ‘woke’ Snow White and claims the studio ‘doesn’t know what to do’ with the outspoken actress.

But Rachel’s fortunes could soon see a career reassurance much like Nicole Scherzinger who starred in director Lloyd’s 2023 reimagined version of Sunset Boulevard, which won her plaudits and transferred to Broadway. 

The West Side Story star will make her West End debut as Former First Lady of Argentina Eva Peron in the show which debuted in 1978 and was written by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Rachel will take to the stage at London’s Palladium from June until September 2025 and sing classic songs like Don’t Cry For Me Argentina. 

Following the announcement Rachel she gushed: ‘Evita has been such an important musical to me since I was a little girl, when my dad and I would sing Don’t Cry for Me Argentina together on my back patio’. 

‘The opportunity to bring Jamie Lloyd’s singular, visionary ideas to life onstage is an honour unlike any other. The stage has always felt like home to me, and I can’t wait to make my West End debut in such great company.’ 

Meanwhile Jamie Lloyd said: ‘I am so excited to be collaborating with the brilliant Rachel Zegler on Evita. She is a phenomenal talent, and I am delighted she will be making her West End debut as the iconic Eva Perón’.

An offical announcement for the show read:  ‘Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s legendary Evita returns to the West End, reimagined by the visionary award-winning director Jamie Lloyd’.

‘Featuring an iconic score including Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, Oh What A Circus, Another Suitcase in Another Hall, and the Oscar-winning You Must Love Me’.

‘Fuelled by ambition and passion, Eva Perón rose from poverty to become the most powerful woman in Latin America. A symbol of hope to many Argentines, her star shone brightly as she captured the nation’s heart and divided its soul’.

Rachel is no stranger to musical theatre and starred in Stephen Spielberg’s Oscar winning adaption of West Side Story in 2021.

Other famous faces to take on the iconic role Evita include Patti Lupone, Elaine Paige as well as mega Madonna in the 1996 movie version. 

It comes after Disney’s Snow White remake added to the mystery after they failed to roll out the red carpet for global press.

Leading lady Rachel stepped out at a remote castle in Segrovia, north-west of Madrid, to perform for select ‘VIPs’ after Disney scaled back the event following a series of scandals and PR nightmares surrounding the divisive remake.

Notably, her co-star Gal Gadot – who has also come under the spotlight for her casting as the evil queen – was not in attendance and director Marc Webb was the only other named person involved with the movie who attended.

Though it was one of the first events marking the movie’s March 21 release, it wasn’t described as a premiere, but was carefully referred to as an ‘European event’ after its glitzy global premieres were ditched in favor of ‘tightly controlled’ press events.

Rather than the usual list of major news outlets flocking to the scene, local Spanish influencers and families from the small city of Segovia, which boasts a population of just 51,000, were among the chosen ‘VIPs’ in attendance.

Zegler and Webb, 50, were the only stars who posed for photographs on the modest red carpet with the absence of other cast and crew members very apparent as a crowd gathered outside the castle.

The event – which took place thousands of miles away from the gaze of global press – featured a performance from Zegler of Waiting upon a Wish, with ‘VIPs’ standing in a crowd to watch, as well as a lavish meal with guests.

Select guests were given the chance to get a special exclusive screening of the movie itself as influencers gave a glimpse inside the cinema room on social media, though they have to remain mum on their thoughts on the release for now.

According to Disney, unnamed ‘press’, ‘content creators’ and families involved with local Spanish charities were among those who gathered outside the medieval castle.

However, there didn’t appear to be many big names from influencer circles in attendance as the Spanish content creators in the crowds boasted mere thousands of followers, rather than millions.

A Spanish Snow White movie fan account, which has 3,735 followers on Instagram, shared photographs and videos from the event as they nabbed one of the very select invites.

Spanish make-up artist Nuria Adraos, who boasts 815,000 followers on Instagram, was also among the guest list, as well Valencia influencer Almu Carrion.

Carrion, who has a reach of 257,000 accounts, described the event as one of the best experiences of her life after she was wined and dined and gifted with freebies as part of the festivities.

TikTok star Liv Marks-Howarth, who describes herself as a celebrity interviewer and has 79,000 TikTok followers and 9,500 on Instagram, posted an array of pictures and videos from the event.

She shared a glimpse inside the formal meal offered as part of the event on Instagram, where guests were served an array of banquet dishes with wine and gifted freebies from Pandora.

The place settings featured bunches of red roses while apples were also laid on the red tablecloth in reference to the storyline of the original fairytale.

Guests were seated at two long candle-lit tables and served a themed red apple dessert among the dishes, while they also had the chance to pose for photographs on a regal silver throne chair afterwards.

Sat on each plate was a free gift from Pandora, a necklace and ring featuring the iconic red apple which the Evil Queen uses to poison Snow White in the classic movie.

Before the meal, Zegler, who plays Snow White, was photographed greeting and signing autographs for the children, who all made up the front row as the leading star took to a simplistic pared-back stage to sing.

Video footage of her performance showed a modest crowd of around 100 people standing behind red rope to watch Zegler, while a small camera crew immortalised the moment on film.

Families involved with charities including Fundación Aladina, Fundación sin daño, Juegaterapia, Pequeño Deseo and CEMU nabbed the prime front row position to watch Zegler’s solo number in a sweet gesture.

A notice revealed that the public have been banned from entering the Alcázar of Segovia on both Wednesday and Thursday as it remains closed for the ‘private event’.

In a further sign that Press have been held away from the event, the date of the premiere was not confirmed on media calendars before it got underway on Wednesday.

Instead, Spanish Zegler fan accounts shared evidence of the premiere coming into town while Zegler herself also documented her arrival on her Instagram Stories.

While the premiere was held away from typical Hollywood-style haunts one would expect for a movie of such grandeur, there was some significance in its choice.

The Alcázar of Segovia was the inspiration behind the castle in Disney’s 1937 original animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, with its distinctive shape, turrets and steep roofs all seen in the feature. 

However, amid a series of scandals and PR nightmares surrounding the remake, Disney scaled back the planned lavish premieres to a ‘handful’ of tightly controlled Press events.