Actress dashes 150 miles to save illness-hit Evita musical

Jessica Daley received a standing ovation for her last-minute performance

An actress travelled more than 150 miles to ensure a musical went ahead after its leading lady and understudy both became ill.

Jessica Daley travelled from Middlesbrough to Leicester's Curve Theatre to star as Eva Perón in Evita at 19:30 GMT on Saturday.

The theatre, which had spent the day trying to find a replacement, described Ms Daley as a "diamond".

She received a standing ovation for her "amazing" performance.

Martha Kirby and her understudy, Chumisa Dornford-May, were too ill to go on, although Ms Dornford-May has since recovered and will return to the stage later.

The theatre shared a picture of Ms Daley, alongside the words: "She is a diamond - a huge round of applause for Jessica Daley.

In 2019, Ms Daley led the international tour of Evita to "high acclaim"

"Here she is receiving a well-deserved standing ovation from our loyal and supportive audiences."

Ms Daley replied, saying: "A moment. Lord." She has pinned the post to her X account.

Audience members replied to Curve's post to thank the actress.

"Amazing performance... so glad that the show could go on! Thank you Jessica...what a star!!" said one.

Another wrote: "She was amazing, as were the whole cast. Thank you, Curve, for pulling out all the stops to put on the show this evening."

In 2019, Ms Daley led the international tour of Evita to "high acclaim".

She has also performed in stage versions of Billy Elliot, An Officer and a Gentleman, and The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Lord Lloyd-Webber and Sir Tim Rice wrote the musical about the life of Argentine political leader Eva Perón in 1978.

It was turned into a film in 1996 with Madonna in the title role.