Winners of The Stage Debut Awards 2025, in association with Netflix, were revealed on September 28 at a star-studded ceremony taking place at 8 Northumberland Avenue, London. Rachel Zegler scooped the prize for Best West End Debut Performer, one of the evening’s most coveted awards, for her tour de force performance as Eva Perón in Jamie Lloyd’s triumphant revival of Evita. She follows in the footsteps of previous winners Jodie Comer, Rose Ayling-Ellis and Jack Wolfe.
Hosted by comedy royalty and actor Julian Clary in front of some of UK theatre’s most influential figures, Zegler’s win – the people’s favourite – was the only award category to have been decided by the public. The starry shortlist also included Zegler’s Evita co-star Diego Andres Rodriguez; both Tosin Cole (Netflix’s Supacell) and his co-star Heather Agyepong for Shifters; Kat Ronney for Titanique; The Devil Wears Prada’s Georgie Buckland; Clueless the Musical’s Emma Flynn and Samuel Brewer in Oedipus.
