Jul 7
Rachel Zegler Acknowledges London Pride with Lyric Change to 'Don't Cry For Me Argentina'
READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Eva Perón acknowledged the queer "descamisados" gathered beneath the balcony at the London Palladium on Saturday, July 5 when Rachel Zegler changed a lyric to "Don't Cry For Me Argentina." In Jamie Lloyd's pop concert-inspired production, the iconic moment Perón addresses her followers and sings the show's most famous song is staged from a balcony facing the street where hundreds gather nightly to watch. The moment is meant to recall a speech Perón gave in 1946 on the balcony of the Presidential palace in Buenos Aires where she spoke to thousands of her followers, the descamisados," or the shirtless ones.
@wilkmichal 5 July 2027. Happy Pride! @EVITA #rachelzegler #evita ♬ original sound - Michal Wilk
On Saturday, Zegler changed the Tim Rice lyric from "when the crowds sing songs of glory" to "when they sing songs of Pride and glory" in the spoken section that follows the song.
She changed the lyric for both the matinee and evening performances, both of which drew large crowds and, due to the theater's proximity to the Pride parade, numerous shirtless ones. The unique staging is broadcast on multiple screens inside the hall to the paying customers. Controversial at first, many have come around to see it as a genius move on Lloyd's part as a metaphor for Eva Perón's popularity with the public. The show runs through September 6, but tickets are scarce since it opened to mostly positive reviews last week.
In the comment section to the TikTok posted by Michael Wilk, one person wrote: "]I was once as you are now' to a group of queer people makes it sound like Eva was coming out."
