Every day is opening night.

Jamie Lloyd Company U.S. Contacts:
Rick Miramontez / Aaron Meier
rick@omdkc.com / aaron@omdkc.com
212-695-7400

Evita & Jamie Lloyd Company U.K. Contact:
Freya Cowdry
freya@joallanpr.com
07889 542 245

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ON TUESDAY, APRIL 8, PLEASE

DIEGO ANDRES RODRIGUEZ
JOINS
RACHEL ZEGLER IN
“JAMIE LLOYD’S PRODUCTION OF
TIM RICE AND ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER’S
“EVITA”
AT THE LONDON PALLADIUM SUMMER 2025 

PHOTOS OF RODRIGUEZ AVALABLE HERE

New York, NY (April 8, 2025) – Michael Harrison for Lloyd Webber Harrison Musicals and Jamie Lloyd for The Jamie Lloyd Company today announced Diego Andres Rodriguez as ‘Che’ in Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita. He joins the previously announced Rachel Zegler (‘Eva Perón’), with full cast and creatives to be announced. The production, directed by Jamie Lloyd, opens at the London Palladium on Tuesday July 1 with previews from Saturday, June 14, and runs until Saturday, September 6.

Jamie Lloyd said today, “Before he even graduated, Diego made his professional debut as ‘Artie’ in our production of Sunset Blvd. on Broadway, in which he also understudied and played the leading role, ‘Joe Gillis.’ He is an incredible young actor and a fantastic vocalist. We’re so thrilled he will be making his West End debut in Tim and Andrew’s iconic musical.”

Rodriguez said, “I’m beyond thrilled to be making my West End debut in Evita this summer at the historic London Palladium! Being directed by Jamie Lloyd again, working with The Jamie Lloyd Company’s incredible team, and playing ‘Che’ opposite Rachel is an opportunity of a lifetime. This is a dream come true!”

For Evita, there will be 5,000 tickets available across the run at £25 exclusively for under 30s, key workers and those receiving government benefits. These tickets will be available across all levels of the theater and go on sale at a later date. Further information to be announced.

EVITA
Lyrics by Tim Rice; Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Directed by Jamie Lloyd

The London Palladium
Saturday, June 14 – Saturday, September 6, 2025
Press Night: Tuesday, July 1 at 7:30 PM

“The truth is I never left you”

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.

Produced by Michael Harrison for Lloyd Webber Harrison Musicals and Jamie Lloyd for The Jamie Lloyd Company by arrangement with The Really Useful Group Ltd.

Jamie Lloyd originally directed Evita at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre as part of their 2019 season.

BIOGRAPHIES

Rachel Zegler makes her West End debut as Eva Perón. Theater credits include: Romeo + Juliet (Circle in the Square Theatre, Broadway). Film credits include: Snow White, Spellbound, Y2K, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (People’s Choice Award for Action Movie Star of the Year); Shazam! Fury of The Gods and West Side Story (National Board of Review Award for Best Actress; Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical).

Diego Andres Rodriguez makes his West End debut as Che For the Jamie Lloyd Company having previously appeared in the production of Sunset Blvd. (St. James Theatre, Broadway).

Tim Rice has worked in music, theater, and films since 1965 when he met Andrew Lloyd Webber, a fellow struggling songwriter. Rather than pursue Tim’s ambitions to write rock or pop songs they turned their attention to Andrew’s obsession – musical theater. Their first collaboration, The Likes Of Us, did not set the musicals world alight, but their next three works together did – Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita.

Tim has since worked with other distinguished composers such as Elton John (The Lion King, Aida), Alan Menken (Aladdin, King David, Beauty and the Beast), Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson (Chess), and Stuart Brayson (From Here To Eternity). He has also written with Freddie Mercury, Burt Bacharach, Graham Gouldman, Gary Barlow and Rick Wakeman among others. Many of his musicals continue to play around the world in a huge variety of productions, big and small.

In 2024 Tim toured England (22 towns/cities) to present an evening of his songs, mercifully performed by top singers and musicians rather than by him, to which he added reminiscence and comment, recalling their creation, success (or rejection) and the joy (usually) of working with great composers. The show, entitled My Life In Musicals, did so well that it is to be repeated in 2025, this time taking in Wales, Scotland and Ireland too.

Sir Tim’s interests beyond music, film, and theater include cricket and he founded his own team in 1973. Heartaches CC has now played over 750 matches and been on playing tours to the USA, Russia, France, Estonia, Hungary, Germany and South Africa. He was President of the world’s most famous cricket club, MCC, in 2002.

He has recently recorded a series of talks for BBC Maestro on “Writing and Performing in Musical Theater.” He writes and presents a podcast (entitled Get Onto My Cloud) about his 60-year career – playing hits and flops, out-takes, and number ones.

He dedicates considerable time to several British educational institutions and charities, many connected with sport for disadvantaged children. He is a patron of the Bob Willis Fund (along with Bob Dylan!), an enterprise inspired by the late great English cricketer, dedicated to raise prostate cancer awareness.

He crops up here and there in all branches of the media drawing on his extensive knowledge of the history of popular music. He has won several awards, mainly for the wrong thing or for simply turning up, but since you ask: one Emmy, five Grammys, three Tonys, and three Oscars, making him an EGOT. His shows have spent more weeks on Broadway than those of any other British lyricist. He was knighted by Her Late Majesty the Queen in 1994. Despite hints, he is not retiring just yet.

Andrew Lloyd Webber has composed the scores of some of the world’s most famous musicals. Lloyd Webber has had shows running across the world for decades, including continually in London’s West End for 50 years. When Sunset Boulevard joined School of Rock, Cats, and The Phantom of the Opera he equalled Rodgers & Hammerstein’s record of four shows running simultaneously on Broadway. He is one of the select group of artists with EGOT status, having received Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards.

Lloyd Webber owns six London theatres including the iconic London Palladium and Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Reopened in July 2021, the latter was completely restored and renovated at a cost of over £60 million. It was one of the biggest projects ever undertaken by a private theatre owner in recent times. His mantra is that every penny of profit made from his theatres is ploughed back into the buildings.

Lloyd Webber is passionate about the importance of musical education and diversity in the arts. The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation provides 30 performing arts scholarships every year for talented students with financial need and supports a range of projects such as the Music in Secondary School Trust and commissioning research into diversity in theatre.

Andrew Lloyd Webber has composed music for globally significant moments, including Olympic ceremonies and World Cup celebrations. He has been asked to compose for many royal occasions, the most recent being “Make a Joyful Noise”, an Anthem for the Coronation of King Charles III.

Andrew Lloyd Webber was knighted in 1992, created an honorary life peer in 1997, and made a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter by King Charles III in 2024.

Jamie Lloyd directs. His credits for The Jamie Lloyd Company include Much Ado About Nothing and The Tempest (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), Romeo & Juliet (Duke of York’s Theatre), Sunset Blvd. (St. James Theatre, New York/Savoy Theatre – winner of seven Olivier Awards including Best Director and Best Musical Revival; Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Director), The Effect (National Theatre/The Shed, New York), A Doll’s House (Hudson Theatre, New York – nominated for six 2023 Tony Awards including Best Direction of a Play and Best Revival of a Play), The Seagull (Harold Pinter Theatre), Cyrano de Bergerac (Playhouse Theatre/Harold Pinter Theatre/Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York – Olivier Award for Best Revival; Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Best Director), Betrayal (Harold Pinter Theatre/Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre – nominated for four 2021 Tony Awards including Best Direction of a Play and Best Revival of a Play; Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Best Director), Pinter at the Pinter (Harold Pinter Theatre), The Maids, The Homecoming, The Ruling Class, Richard III, The Pride, The Hothouse and Macbeth (Trafalgar Studios).

Lloyd Webber Harrison Musicals is the company formed by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and producer Michael Harrison to create and produce both new musicals and new productions from Andrew’s existing catalogue of work. Productions include: Sunset Blvd. (Savoy & St James Theatre, Broadway) starring Nicole Scherzinger and Starlight Express (Troubadour).

The Jamie Lloyd Company is a multi-award-winning West End and Broadway production company. The company creates adventurous productions with the very best acting talent in the world. The company’s work includes radical reappraisals of Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest, Romeo & Juliet, Sunset Blvd., The Effect, A Doll’s House, The Seagull, Cyrano de Bergerac, Betrayal, The Maids and Macbeth, with casts including Uzo Aduba, Zawe Ashton, Hayley Atwell, Gemma Chan, Jessica Chastain, Emilia Clarke, Paapa Essiedu, Claire Foy, Martin Freeman, Kit Harington, Tom Hiddleston, Tom Holland, James McAvoy, Arian Moayed, Simon Russell Beale, Taylor Russell, Nicole Scherzinger and Sigourney Weaver. Current / forthcoming productions include Sunset Blvd. (St. James Theatre, Broadway), Evita (The London Palladium) and Waiting for Godot (Broadway).

www.thejamielloydcompany.com
www.instagram.com/jamielloydco

The Really Useful Group, wholly owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber, develops, licences and manages the global brand strategy for his shows and music around the globe, including some of the world’s longest-running and most successful musicals, such as The Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Starlight Express, Evita, Sunset Boulevard and School of Rock – The Musical. 

The Really Useful Group operates across theatre, film and television, working with key partners and developing new projects worldwide, alongside ongoing work in education, amateur licensing and music publishing. Every year, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s brands, music and content are enjoyed and shared by hundreds of millions of people around the world. The Really Useful Group manages AndrewLloydWebber.com and The Box Five Club, a home for Andrew Lloyd Webber fans across the world.

www.andrewlloydwebber.com
www.andrewlloydwebber.com/box-five

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