Rachel Zegler Live at The London Palladium Review
Written by Cathie for Theatre & Tonic
After truly phenomenal and critically acclaimed debut performances in Broadway as Juliet and the West End as Evita, Rachel Zegler has returned to the London Palladium for her debut solo concert.
The afternoon performance began with a roar of applause. The set was a rather simple and elegant staging. The talented musicians surrounding Zegler and the spotlight firmly centring her at all times. The brilliant musicians supporting her included Tom Knowles (piano keys), Lewis Dunsmore (guitarist), Hugh Richardson (bass), Glesni Roberts (Viola), Daniel Hornberger (cello), Ollie Woods (drums) and Adam Hoskins on piano and her musical director.
Dressed in an elegant black gown, Zegler moved gracefully across the stage, alternating between standing confidently at the microphone and sitting at various points during the performance. Despite her poise, signs of first-concert nerves were evident—she let out a brief shriek at the start of the show, later explaining it was due to forgetting her set list in a moment of panic. Nevertheless, her natural charisma and seasoned presence as a performer shone through. Her vocals were nothing short of stunning, delivering a performance rich with power and emotion. Unlike Evita, however, this time she had plenty of chances to pause for water breaks.
The set list ranged through most of Zegler’s career to date. This included a memorable throwback to her origins singing Taylor Swift, covers from West Side Story and Evita and two original songs written by Zegler herself. Zegler also describes herself as “a glee kid who believes in the power of mash-ups” and therefore many of the songs performed included mash-ups of two songs, including ones by Judy Garland, Amy Winehouse, Ariana Grande to name a few.
In Act Two, we also had a stunning surprise visit and duet of “Moving On” with world-famous Ramin Karimloo, which brought much of the audience to tears. In between songs, Rachel revealed her thoughts and feelings about her career so far, including The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes being her favourite film to create so far and how her experiences of working with Spielberg and Sondheim have shaped her life. She also shared her dream of playing Javert one day in Les Misérables and performing in future musicals in the West End and Broadway.
There was limited merchandise available and queues stretched halfway through the London Palladium foyer in anticipation of this performance. Rachel Zegler is a truly spectacular performer and completely riveting to watch whether in a musical or in a solo performance. This was a fabulous experience and brilliant milestone for her career’s stretch into the stratosphere and I hope that this experience will be repeated in the future.
★★★★★
