“My dad was a truck driver, and he’d always play Evita in the cab while driving—it was his favorite musical. Hearing it now brings back vivid memories of sitting beside him in his big truck, driving through industrial estates and along bleak, gray motorways across the country. He knew every word and would sing along.”
Jamie Lloyd smiles. Now one of the world’s most celebrated theater directors, he’s preparing to stage his own version of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic musical at the London Palladium. “If my dad were still here, he’d be blown away.”
Playing Eva Perón is Rachel Zegler, trading the wide-eyed innocence of Maria in Spielberg’s West Side Story (2021) and Disney’s live-action Snow White for the sharp-edged complexities of Argentina’s controversial first lady.
Director and star are standing in a sunlit garden in southeast London—today’s stand-in for the Pampas—with the Thames flowing quietly nearby. Rehearsals began yesterday, and they speak with quiet intensity, sitting at a small table or standing close together on the riverbank. They make an unlikely pair: she’s 24, petite and energetic, constantly in motion, the ribbons on her Dior dress fluttering in the breeze (she’s an ambassador for the brand). He’s 44, more reserved, with a muscular frame under his fitted T-shirt, his intricate scalp tattoos just visible beneath his signature hat.
There’s an immediate connection as he shares his vision for the production and she fires off questions, her goldendoodle, Lennie (named after West Side Story composer Leonard Bernstein), bounding around them. Their excitement is palpable.
Lloyd first discovered Zegler through her YouTube performances. “She’s an incredible vocalist,” he says. “Hearing her sing this material gives me chills.” When casting, he always looks for a personal connection. “At the first read-through, while others were polite and formal, she was moving around the room, fully expressing herself. I love that—my approach relies on actors feeling free.”
Zegler grins and returns the praise. “He’s a total sweetheart—kind, open-hearted, and encourages us to perform without inhibition. The moment you hold back, the magic fades.”
This ability to inspire actors might be Lloyd’s greatest strength. His recent Much Ado About Nothing, starring Tom Hiddleston and Hayley Atwell, featured a cast who’d all worked with him before—and eagerly returned.
“He creates a democratic space,” says Atwell, who’s collaborated with him three times. “Not every director enjoys actors—we’re unpredictable, playful. But Jamie loves that. He wants it to feel like a playground.”
Warmth and passion have driven Lloyd’s career, from his start at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts to over 70 productions. Now at the peak of his field, he founded the Jamie Lloyd Company in 2013, prioritizing accessibility with discounted tickets for young and underserved audiences. For Evita, 5,000 £25 tickets are available for under-30s, key workers, and those on benefits.
His directing portfolio showcases his range—from Harold Pinter’s Betrayal to bold reimaginings of classics—proving his ability to balance artistic ambition with mass appeal.Here’s a more fluent and natural rewrite of the text:
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The West End and Broadway have seen a string of striking productions under Jamie Lloyd’s direction—an intimate yet stripped-back Betrayal starring Tom Hiddleston, Zawe Ashton, and Charlie Cox; a fresh take on Cyrano de Bergerac with James McAvoy; Chekhov’s The Seagull in London featuring Emilia Clarke; Ibsen’s A Doll’s House in New York with Jessica Chastain; a revival of The Effect starring Paapa Essiedu and Taylor Russell; a Romeo and Juliet that had fans lining up around the Duke of York’s Theatre to see Tom Holland; and a raw, award-winning Sunset Boulevard with Nicole Scherzinger.
More recently, two Shakespeare productions played at Drury Lane—a stark Tempest starring Sigourney Weaver (which fell flat with critics—Lloyd admits, “Sometimes a production is firing on all cylinders in rehearsals, but under the pressure of press performances, things shift and it’s not at its best”) and a rapturously received Much Ado About Nothing. After Evita, Lloyd will direct Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot on Broadway, reuniting Bill & Ted stars Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter. The longtime friends pitched the idea to Lloyd, who jumped at the chance. “I’d wanted to do that play forever,” he says. “And I loved that they’d been friends for so long. It’s about companionship in the face of the void, isn’t it?”
It’s an impressive streak—especially considering Lloyd’s unconventional upbringing in 1980s Dorset. “It sounds strange when I say it out loud,” he admits with a laugh. After his parents split when he was five, his first stepfather—a children’s entertainer called “Uncle Funny”—was “awful.” “He’d perform with rabbits he kept in a hutch in our living room,” Lloyd recalls. “It sounds like a cliché, but living with him was miserable.”
At one point, the family lived above a costume shop, where young Jamie would sneak downstairs and dress up. “Sometimes I’d pose in the window like a mannequin, then suddenly move to startle passersby,” he says.
He and his cousins were obsessed with Michael Jackson, recreating the “Thriller” video with homemade polystyrene gravestones. “We called ourselves the Rainbow Kids and performed on the street, whether people wanted us to or not.” A turning point came when his father—who played in a Cliff Richard tribute band—took him to see Jackson’s Bad tour in Cardiff. “We were way at the back, but I remember watching him, tiny onstage, holding the crowd in silence before launching back into the song. It wasn’t theater, but it was pure entertainment—one of those moments where everything clicks.”
Lloyd’s recent productions—like the stark black-and-white Sunset Boulevard and Romeo and Juliet—often use cameras, screens, and microphones, adding to their modern appeal. Nicole Scherzinger, whom Lloyd pursued for years to play Norma Desmond, notes: “I love how minimal his approach is. No distractions—just the raw heart of the story, the truth of the moment. He makes it real.”
His distance from traditional theater roots shows in his work. “So many of my peers grew up watching legendary Shakespeare performances—that was their foundation,” he says wryly. “Mine was paddling with pythons in a pool.”
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(Note: The last line seems to be cut off in the original, so I kept it as is.)We had a lodger who was a snake charmer, so we had a pool,” he says with a laugh. In person, he’s quiet yet engaging—open and direct in a way that makes him instantly likable. When he got his early directing opportunities—assisting Trevor Nunn on Anything Goes and Michael Grandage on Guys and Dolls, then directing The Caretaker at Sheffield Crucible at Samuel West’s request—he was aware he came from a different background than most of his peers. “I used to wear a blazer, dress smarter, and speak a bit posher to fit in. There was always that feeling of imposter syndrome.”
Old photos show him as an earnest, bespectacled man who slightly resembles Harry Potter. “I do, don’t I?” he says, laughing loudly. These days, he looks completely different. When we meet at the Palladium, he’s wearing a gray Calvin Klein denim jacket, Carhartt shorts, and Nike sneakers. His legs are the only part of his body without tattoos—intricate designs cover his head, neck, arms, and fingers. “It’s like a hobby,” he explains. “I’m fascinated by the history of tattooing and how it appears in so many cultures worldwide. There’s a real community around it—you end up talking to people about their tattoos, who inked them. I just love it.”
He doesn’t consider himself a superstar director—”I don’t feel like one”—but he has changed. “The hardest thing as an artist and as a person is realizing that what others think of you isn’t your business,” he says. “That need for approval, to be liked or seen as important or cool, runs so deep. I heard recently that people’s biggest regret on their deathbed is wishing they’d lived life on their own terms instead of meeting others’ expectations. What a terrible regret to carry.”
He lives by this philosophy, openly sharing his love for Brandon LaVar, an American dancer and actor who starred in Sunset Boulevard on Broadway. Until a few years ago, he was in a long-term relationship with actress Suzie Toase, with whom he has three sons. “I never claimed to be straight,” he says. “When I met Suzie—who’s still my best friend—she knew me as an openly queer person. We fell in love and had three amazing kids. People assumed I was straight because I was with a woman, but my friends always knew the truth.”
Jamie and Suzie separated before the pandemic. “Honestly, I didn’t think I’d be with anyone else, and I wasn’t looking for a relationship with someone from work. But during rehearsals, Brandon gave me a fist bump, we locked eyes, and my heart skipped a beat. We just fell in love—it was beautiful. I feel incredibly lucky.”
He smiles. His sons—18, 12, and eight—adore Brandon too. “Everyone’s been open, and it’s all very joyful. Suzie and I co-parent these amazing kids, and we spend so much time together like one big extended family.” The day we meet, he’s heading to relatives in North London for a birthday celebration—he makes sure to spend as much time with his boys as possible. Jamie still lives in Hastings but often stays with LaVar in New York. “I’m a bit nomadic. I don’t own much, and I love living out of a suitcase.”
(Styling details: Jamie wears a Gucci shirt and cardigan with Ferragamo trousers. Zegler wears a Ferragamo jacket and miniskirt with a Maison Margiela cardigan and a vintage T-shirt. Photographed by Matt Healy for British Vogue, July 2025.)
This personal happiness sets the perfect stage for his excitement about returning to Evita, which tells the story of Eva Perón’s rise from poverty to becoming a beloved figure.The beloved yet controversial wife of Argentina’s President Perón, Eva Perón is the subject of the musical Evita. First released as a concept album in 1976 (similar to Jesus Christ Superstar), the British stage production debuted two years later under Hal Prince’s direction, becoming a grand spectacle. The original cast featured Elaine Paige as Eva and David Essex as Che Guevara, the revolutionary leader who narrates Perón’s story.
The musical begins with Eva’s death in 1952 at age 33 before flashing back to explore her tumultuous life. Director Jamie Lloyd first staged his reimagined version at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in 2019, presenting it as a rock opera against a backdrop of bleachers. The current production at the London Palladium builds on that vision.
“It’s completely different from Prince’s production, which can’t be surpassed,” Lloyd explains. “We’re approaching it from a fresh perspective.” Known for innovative staging—like filming Sunset Boulevard’s lead walking through London’s Strand or sending Romeo to the rooftop in Romeo & Juliet—Lloyd has sparked rumors that Rachel Zegler’s Eva might appear on the Palladium’s balcony nightly. While Lloyd remains tight-lipped, Zegler jokes, “We’ve been calling it Eva Perón’s Coachella set.” Weeks later, social media posts of her singing Don’t Cry for Me Argentina from the theater’s facade seemed to confirm the idea.
For Zegler, making her UK stage debut, Evita is a dream role—one she’s wanted since seeing Madonna’s 1996 film. “It’s one of those musical theater roles that has everything: singing, dancing, and a deep acting challenge, tracing 18 years of a woman’s life from age 15 to her death.”
The role offers a respite after the backlash surrounding Snow White, where her casting faced racist attacks over her Colombian heritage. Later, her comments about the original Disney film and her support for Palestinian rights drew further criticism. Normally outspoken, Zegler treads carefully: “It was a lot of hard work, and I’m proud of how my performance was received—it’s something I care deeply about.”
She’s more vocal about Eva Perón herself. “In Argentina, people either worship or despise her, but her impact is undeniable. I love when art asks the audience how they feel.”
Lloyd agrees. “The story is complex, almost like a series of tableaux. You have to embrace its jagged, eclectic nature. Eva’s rise from obscurity to icon mirrors today’s pop stars—that’s why framing it like a Coachella set works.”
His bold reinventions might seem flashy, but they’re rooted in substance. As Tom Hiddleston notes, “Jamie has the courage to honor the material while pushing boundaries. He guides actors to engage deeply, whether with Shakespeare’s poetry or Pinter’s silences.”
For Lloyd, the magic lies in instinct. “I don’t overthink it—I just follow what excites me.””I love going to the theater, but I don’t see every single show,” says the former member. So what’s next? “I really enjoy reading a play for the first time,” he replies thoughtfully. “If it sparks my imagination, then I’ll do it.”
Evita will run at the London Palladium until September 6.
Credits:
Hair: Stelios Chondros
Makeup: Phoebe Brown
Nails: Charly Avenell
Set Design: Josh Stovell
Production: Chloé Medley
Digital Artwork: Bayeux