7 d. ago Don’t cry for me, all you boozers! The trouble with shifting Evita’s big balcony number from stage to street

In the new Evita at the London Palladium, Rachel Zegler sings from the theatre’s actual balcony – meaning the big-paying audience doesn’t experience what passersby get for free. Could this gimmick catch on?In the theatrical tactic “breaking the fourth wall”, characters acknowledge the presence of the audience. As when, in the current National Theatre production of Stephen Sondheim’s final musical, Here We Are, the performers, walking forward, stop in shock at seeing a big room full of strangers.The director Jamie Lloyd, though, is pioneering a technique that might be called breaking the theatre wall. In his revival of Evita, previewing at the London Palladium, Rachel Zegler’s Eva Perón sings Don’t Cry For Me Argentina – supposedly delivered from the Casa Rosada presidential balcony in Buenos Aires – from the balcony outside the Palladium, while the audience inside has to settle for a video feed. Continue reading...

Events

8 d. ago Rachel Zegler gives free performance outside London theatre as Evita production kicks off

Rachel Zegler is the latest star of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita, and musical fans can't help but praise her dedication to the role as she took to the theatre balcony for a free performance

Politics

2 w. ago Medaina Festival transforms Petra into a new frontier for electronic music

The multi-day Jordanian festival brought electronic artists, cultural workshops and curated performances to Petra and Wadi Rum – blending heritage with high production and thoughtful restraint

Culture

2 w. ago Amazon vows to clamp down on fake reviews dubbed ‘catalogue abuse’

Some sellers have hijacked the reviews of well-performing products in order to falsely boost the star rating

Events

3 w. ago Carrie Fisher told Mark Hamill to ‘get over himself’ after he omitted Star Wars from Broadway bio

Originator of Luke Skywalker has performed in five Broadway productions

Events

3 w. ago Toyota confirms it will shift production of hot hatch favourite from Japan to Derbyshire next year

Manufacturing of some GR Corolla cars will move from Toyota's native Japan to the Burnaston plant in 2026.

Politics

4 w. ago Toyota to shift production of its performance car from Japan to the UK

Two sources have said that Toyota will invest £41m to produce the GR Corolla hot hatch in the UK to sell in North America in order to satisfy high demand from US petrolheads.

Politics

4 w. ago Nail art company named Small Business of the Year as inspirational small organisations honoured at awards

HONA – ‘Home of Nail Art’ – is a hypoallergenic nail product business set up to raise standards in the nail industry by providing safe, high-performance products for professional nail technicians.

Events