{"id":360,"date":"2025-06-16T09:20:32","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T09:20:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/?p=360"},"modified":"2025-06-16T10:13:36","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T10:13:36","slug":"rachel-zeglers-west-end-debut-sparks-controversy-over-shock-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/2025\/06\/16\/rachel-zeglers-west-end-debut-sparks-controversy-over-shock-move\/","title":{"rendered":"Rachel Zegler\u2019s West End debut sparks controversy over shock move"},"content":{"rendered":"
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class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\twindow.addEventListener(‘metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded’, function(data) {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tif (typeof(data.detail) === ‘undefined’ || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === ‘undefined’ || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === ‘undefined’) {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\treturn;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t}<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar player = data.detail.carousel.el_;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar container = player.closest(‘.metro-video-player’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar placeholder = container.querySelector(‘.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tcontainer.removeChild(placeholder);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tcontainer.classList.add(‘metro-video-player–related-videos-loaded’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t});<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a data-track=\"inline-tag-auto-link_article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/rachel-zegler\/\">Rachel Zegler<\/a> has made her long-awaited <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/west-end\/\">West End<\/a> debut, but one particular moment has starkly divided fans. <\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/06\/05\/box-office-bomb-set-hit-streamers-major-controversy-scandal-23334871\/\">Snow White<\/a> star, 24, is currently starring as Eva Per\u00f3n in Jamie Lloyd’s new production of <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2017\/05\/10\/patti-lupone-disregards-madonnas-acting-skills-in-evita-as-a-piece-of-st-6627787\/\">Evita<\/a> at the <a data-track=\"inline-tag-auto-link_article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/london\/\">London<\/a> Palladium.<\/p>\n<p>The hit stage show is based on the real life of the Argentine political leader Eva, the second wife of Argentine president Juan Per\u00f3n.<\/p>\n<p>One of the most iconic scenes of the show is when Eva sings Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, addressing the crowds from the balcony of the Casa Rosada and expressing her love for her country.<\/p>\n<p>In Lloyd’s retelling of <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/andrew-lloyd-webber\/\">Andrew Lloyd Webber<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/tim-rice\/\">Tim Rice’s<\/a> show, Zegler reportedly performs the ballad on a balcony outside the Palladium, while theatregoers inside, who have paid up to \u00a3275 per ticket, watch the performance on a screen.<\/p>\n<p>Footage has emerged of the <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/hunger-games\/\">Hunger Games<\/a> actress belting out the tune in full balcony costume, including a slicked-back blonde wig and flowing white gown.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"446\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-23424729 lazyload\" alt=\"Picture shows:Rachel Zegler starring as Evita is seen singing on the balcony at the London Palladium Theatre on Saturday night at the start of the 12 week limited season show. Picture Kerry Davies 14\/06\/2025\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/SEI_255556185-6d29.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>The Hunger Games star is making her West End debut as Eva Peron in a brand new production of Evita (Picture: Kerry Davies for Daily Mail)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"429\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-23424755 lazyload\" alt=\"Picture shows:Rachel Zegler starring as Evita is seen singing on the balcony at the London Palladium Theatre on Saturday night at the start of the 12 week limited season show. Picture Kerry Davies 14\/06\/2025\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/SEI_255559400-eff5.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>The show’s pivotal balcony scene is performed on the London Palladium’s actual balcony, instead of on the theatre stage (Picture: Kerry Davies for Daily Mail)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It has caused uproar among some attendees, who have expressed how ‘disappointed’ they would be after paying to see the show, only to not actually see one of Evita’s pivotal scenes in the flesh.<\/p>\n<p>‘I\u2019m seeing it on Thursday and I’m excited but the fact singing this outside while everyone inside theatre have to see it on screen kinda of a rip off for our money while people who haven\u2019t got a ticket can see it outside FOR FREE,’ Marcusgomezz26 wrote on Instagram.<\/p>\n<p>Theatrewithmaila agreed, adding: ‘So excited to see her, but not sure how I feel about paying \u00a3\u00a3\u00a3 and one of the most iconic songs performed isnt even on stage.’<\/p>\n<p>On TikTok, Andrewbrighton54 wrote: ‘As incredible as this is, this is an iconic song. If I have paid a lot of money to see Evita, I do find it a bit odd that you see this song on a screen. I could stand in the street and watch it free of charge, if you get the timing right.’<\/p>\n<p>Tristan blasted: ‘Let me see if I\u2019ve got this right? We argue that nothing beats seeing a show live and charge a massive premium for the experience. So I pay to go and see a show performed live and then you go and take the actress outside for the most renowned song of the piece so I get a cinema style experience?’<\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\" data-ico=\"factbox_article\" data-track-module=\"factbox_article\">\n<h2 class=\"factbox-title\">\n\t\t\t\tLatest London news\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<div class=\"factbox-content\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/06\/04\/iconic-houses-just-off-portobello-road-painted-black-deter-influencers-23328238\/\"><a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/06\/04\/iconic-houses-just-off-portobello-road-painted-black-deter-influencers-23328238\/\">Iconic houses just off Portobello Road painted black to deter influencers<\/a><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/06\/04\/former-bbc-studios-eastenders-filmed-riddled-asbestos-23329484\/\"><a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/06\/04\/former-bbc-studios-eastenders-filmed-riddled-asbestos-23329484\/\">Former BBC studios where EastEnders was filmed riddled with asbestos<\/a><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/06\/04\/boy-14-hacked-death-instant-man-samurai-sword-way-school-23329008\/\">Boy, 14, ‘hacked to death in an instant by man with Samurai sword’ on way to school<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em><strong>To get the latest news from the capital visit Metro’s<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/london\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> London news hub<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Others said they were ‘very unimpressed’ and ‘fuming’ by the decision, arguing that Zegler wouldn’t receive ‘her biggest applause’ from the audience because of it.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"877\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22848600 lazyload\" alt=\"NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 3: Rachel Zegler attends the opening night afterparty for "Good Night, And Good Luck" on Broadway at The New York Public Library on April 03, 2025 in New York City on April 3, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Glikas\/FilmMagic)\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/SEI_246230467-89b7.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>The show has faced backlash from theatregoers ‘fuming’ that one of Evita’s pivotal scenes isn’t performed in front of the audience (Picture: Bruce Glikas\/FilmMagic)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"363\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22826582 lazyload\" alt=\"Rachel Zegler as Snow White in the live action remake of Snow White. She is holding a bird in her hand\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/SEI_244334360-fb26.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>Zegler is no stranger to controversy following her run in Disney’s live action Snow White (Picture: DISNEY ENTERPRISES INC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Some fans, however, pointed out how apt the decision was for the show due to its themes.<\/p>\n<p>Miss Sophie Rose explained: ‘I don’t know the exact staging but the cool thing with this song being the only one outside (aside from the obvious singing to the “poor folk”) is that if someone’s passing by and doesn’t know the story of Evita they are only hearing an “underdog” and someone that sounds admirable instead of knowing the actual story of Evita and the things that happened in the past and in the background which was exactly the intention with this speech.’<\/p>\n<p>Pebbles The Rabbit added: ‘Genius promo. You watch it as a “peasant” on the street and then go and see it as a rich person. People saying \u201cI\u2019d be fuming\u201d as if they couldn\u2019t go and see it the other 364 days of the year on the street – if anything it\u2019s making it MORE accessible.’<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-instagram wp-block-embed-instagram\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media metro-instagram\" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version=\"12\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DJdy7nZNyN5\/\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DJdy7nZNyN5\/\">https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DJdy7nZNyN5\/<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Alec continued: ‘I really don’t get why people are mad. You pay to see a modernist production this is what you get! Classism nuances and multimedia. Theatre has been using multimedia for years now, it’s a highly interesting technique. This is what Lloyd does \ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude4f.’<\/p>\n<p>Zegler is <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/04\/01\/disneys-snow-white-tanked-not-rachel-zegler-22827094\/\">no stranger to controversy<\/a> after being hit by backlash numerous times during the promotional run of Disney’s live action Snow White, including <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2022\/01\/25\/disney-responds-to-peter-dinklage-over-snow-white-dwarfism-criticism-15991362\/\">criticism over its CGI dwarves<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/03\/15\/earth-going-frenzied-woke-backlash-disneys-snow-white-22717294\/\">comments she made about the original story<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>A post she wrote on X in support of Palestine sparked controversy, with <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/03\/28\/petition-launched-defend-rachel-zegler-snow-white-controversy-gathers-steam-22809941\/\">critics fiercely defending the star<\/a> after alleged details of her treatment behind the scenes were reported by Variety.<\/p>\n<p>Evita runs at London Palladium from June 14 until September 6, with Diego Andres Rodriguez as Che, James Olivas as Juan Per\u00f3n, Aaron Lee Lambert as Agustin Magaldi, and Bella Brown as The Mistress.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Got a story?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">If you\u2019ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\">Metro.co.uk<\/a> entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/submit-stuff\/\">Submit Stuff<\/a> page – we\u2019d love to hear from you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>{“@context”:”https:\/\/schema.org”,”@type”:”VideoObject”,”name”:”Metro.co.uk”,”duration”:”T1M48S”,”thumbnailUrl”:”https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2025\/06\/16\/10\/99413183-0-image-a-321_1750066513318.jpg”,”uploadDate”:”2025-06-16T10:31:57+0100″,”description”:”Ticket payers said they were ‘very unimpressed’ and ‘fuming’ by the decision to allow Zegler to perform essentially for free to the public outside, arguing that she wouldn’t receive ‘her biggest applause’ from the audience because of it.”,”contentUrl”:”https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2025\/06\/16\/5676040677094408600\/480x270_MP4_5676040677094408600.mp4″,”height”:480,”width”:270} To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=360"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":366,"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360\/revisions\/366"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}