Hot & Not in Hollywood

She sang to the street. The street answered with a #1. Zegler’s Evita goes viral. One performance turned a show tune into a #1 vinyl and made Evita the most talked-about show in London.

Each night, Rachel Zegler steps onto the Palladium’s outer balcony and sings directly to the street. The result? A viral sensation and the UK’s best-selling physical single of the week.

In Jamie Lloyd’s radical Evita at London’s Palladium, Zegler skips the stage and starts on the balcony.

Performing “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” from the theatre’s outer façade, she sings straight to the street while ticketed audiences inside watch via livestream. The result? A viral sensation and the UK’s best-selling physical single of the week.

Her vinyl release, which includes a bonus track recorded live from the balcony, has officially hit #1 on both the Official Vinyl Singles Chart and the Physical Singles Chart. It’s a feat few musical theatre performers have ever achieved, and it’s all thanks to a bold staging choice, a timeless ballad, and Zegler’s powerhouse vocals.

A Song Reborn

“Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” has a storied chart history. Julie Covington’s original 1977 version spent ten weeks in the UK Top 10. Madonna’s 1996 film rendition reached #3. Even Glee managed a Top 75 entry in 2011. But Zegler’s version marks a new kind of triumph: a live theatrical recording breaking into mainstream music charts nearly 50 years after the song’s debut.

The viral balcony moment, now viewed millions of times across social platforms, has transformed Evita into the most talked-about show in London. Crowds of over 1,000 gather nightly outside the Palladium just to hear Zegler sing. As Time Out London put it, “the crowd are both Zegler’s adoring public and, in a brilliantly cynical stroke, they’re also Evita’s.”

A Star’s Shock and a Composer’s Gasp

When the Official Charts Company broke the news backstage, Zegler was stunned:

“I’m freaking out! This is so wild! This feels incorrect, but I trust you, you guys are the experts!”

She immediately FaceTimed Andrew Lloyd Webber, who gasped, “TWO?” in reference to the song’s second time at #1. “Well… we want a third!”

Zegler later joked, “This is the only time I know something that Andrew Lloyd Webber doesn’t!”

⬥ Viral. Live. Historic. ⬥

Theatrical Innovation Meets Digital Buzz

Director Jamie Lloyd’s decision to stage the number on the balcony was clever and symbolic. In the show, Eva Perón sings to the masses while the elite watch from afar. Lloyd flipped the dynamic: the public gets the live performance, while paying audiences inside watch on a screen. It’s a reflection on power, performance, and who gets seen, and it’s made Evita the most talked-about show in London.

Critics have praised Zegler’s performance as “enthralling” and “phenomenal,” with The Independent calling her voice “an emotive purity that captures the spoilt, childlike quality of the super-rich.”

The Balcony Ballad That Broke the Internet and the Charts

Zegler’s chart-topping moment marks a turning point for musical theatre. It shows how live performance, digital virality, and physical media can converge to drive real engagement. Audiences watched, bought, shared, and celebrated.

With producers already eyeing a Broadway transfer, it’s clear this moment is more than viral. It’s historic.

From viral clip to Broadway buzz, this moment reshaped the stage and the spotlight.

~ * ~ Stay tuned, stay savage, stay sparkly — Holly out. ~ * ~