Run and Tell That: Diana The Musical

Note: By now ya'll know that I'm a terrible editor. So be prepared for me to be editing this AFTER I upload it. Also, I'm not a professional reviewer nor do I try to be in these. I'm simply stating what I thought.

Erin Davie as Camilla... is phenomenal. I found myself captivated by her performance.

"Sometimes though it's best to be underestimated." These are the final words spoken by Princess Diana, Jeanna de Waal, in the opening number of Diana The Musical. I find this line ironic because I underestimated this musical. When I first heard that Princess Diana was getting the bio musical treatment I rolled my eyes and said "UGH! Again? Does this really need to be made? We already have The Crown... and I don't need a musical version." I

Jeanna de Waal and Ensemble

honestly did not pay much attention to the musical afterwards and when Broadway closed down because of the pandemic, I truly expected this show to be one of the casualties. However, to my surprise, it not only announced it would be returning, but it would also be professionally recorded for Netflix. Flash forward to over a year later and I opened my Netflix account to a notification about Diana being available for streaming... So I figured "What the hell?" This brings me back to that line "Sometimes though it's best to be underestimated" because I was thoroughly surprised at how much I enjoyed watching the musical. Now just to be clear, Diana is by no means a perfect musical, but it does have its moments. Diana was stunningly captured by cinematographer, Declan Quinn, who didn't just hit record. Quinn made sure to capture it artistically and not just straight on. The rest of the creative team has a collective 17 Tony Awards with an additional 36 nominations to boot, but yet so much went wrong creative wise with Diana. The book scribed by, two time Tony winner for Memphis, Joe DiPietro is overall rather a mess at times, but it does get one thing right, and that is the portrayal of Diana. You see her struggle with her mental health and you fall for her because she is endearing and kind (Which is also due in no small part to actress Jeanna de Waal, but we'll talk about her later). This musical actually changed my perception of Diana because my first major introduction to her was in The Crown where she is written/portrayed as a conniving, manipulative and whiny little brat) you can actually root for Diana and want to support her in the musical. Unfortunately this is where my positive feedback for the book ends. The book is not only rushed, but also somehow slow all at

Roe Hartrampf, Judy Kaye and Jeanna de Waal

the same time. They took a bit of time to explore the beginning of the relationship between Diana and Charles, but then as soon as the wedding came they rushed through her pregnancies giving them an "It's a boy!" moment, but then we don't hear about them for a while. Another thing about DiPietro's book is that he featured, in my opinion, some unnecessary characters such as Barbara Cartland, Judy Kaye (who pulls double duty as Queen Elizabeth II), the step-grandmother to Diana and Andrew Parker Bowles, Zach Adkins, the husband of Camilla. There is also an entire song in Act II dedicated to James Hewitt, Gareth Keegan, about Diana's brief affair with him. While we're on the topic of songs, let's talk about the score written by DiPietro and David Bryan, of Bon Jovi fame. The score is composed mostly of pop rock ballads and power songs featuring some high belting that makes the show come across as a cheap imitation of Evita. Even though there are some catchy tunes that might have you toe tapping in your seat, the generic sounding songs and rather messy lyrics do not leave an everlasting impression. The score sounds very generic and the lyrics are rather a mess at times. Some of the songs in the musical were just plain odd, "The Dress" and "This Is How Your People Dance" or featured obnoxiously expositional lyrics, "The Worst Job in England" and "Snap, Click". I also felt that the score was lacking by not giving Diana a heavy hitting solo. I was waiting for a "Don't Forget Me" or "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" moment from Diana, but I never got it. Meanwhile, at the helm of Diana is Tony Award winning director Christopher Ashley who is known for his extraordinary work on shows such as Come From Away and Memphis, but the work he did for Diana is uninspired and almost lazy compared to his previous work. The only part of his direction that I liked was how the show both began and ended with the flash of bulbs from a camera with Diana standing upstage center. I found this staging to be very significant with how much the paparazzi played a role in Diana's life. Meanwhile the choreography by Kelly Devine features some bold choices (not a compliment) and those choices do nothing to serve 

Erin Davie and Roe Hartrampf

or enhance the story being told. Instead the ensemble danced just to dance not because it was an extension of the story being told. While the book and score were disappointing I really enjoyed the set design by Tony Award winning David Zinn. The stage is surrounded by the gates of Buckingham Palace which I found to be metaphorical to how Diana becomes, essentially, trapped within the palace due to her royal duties and the rules she has to follow. The costumes by William Ivey Long  (#TimesUp) recreated some of Diana's most iconic outfits, but other than those select few they really were nothing special. The lighting design by Natasha Katz was stunning and vibrant and really aided the story telling by featuring different colors depending on the tone of the scene. She featured reds for the fight between Camilla and Diana, while dark blues were often featured in Diana's hardest moments and for the moment when Queen Elizabeth II grants Charles and Diana to have a divorce. The sound design by Gareth Owen is something that I really have no opinion on. I thought it was nice that's it really. Just like the creatives the actors are also a bit over the place. Bruce Dow plays Paul Burrell, who is the butler of Diana and acts as her confidante throughout the show. While Dow is a talented actor, his performance never rises above the likes of "Look at me, I'm the fat, funny, effeminate sidekick of the main character who sings one major song in the entire show." Meanwhile two time Tony Award winning Judy Kaye pulls double duty as both Queen Elizabeth II and Barbara Cartland. When it comes to Kaye as Queen Elizabeth II it is nicely acted, but nothing about her reads "Queen of England" I just get a very posh or

Jeanna de Waal

dignified elderly woman. However, when Kaye is Barbara Cartland she really comes to life, especially with her rowdy, sensual Act II opener "Here Comes James Hewitt". This number is thoroughly entertaining, even if it overall serves no purpose, but I found Kaye to be extremely funny and entertaining throughout the number. Meanwhile Erin Davie as Camilla Parker Bowles is truly phenomenal. I found myself captivated by her performance as Charles' mistress. Davie delivered a stunning rendition of "I Miss You Most on Sundays" that made me hate her only slightly less for the role she played in Diana's life. The male lead is none other than Prince Charles portrayed by the talented Roe Hartrampf. Hartrampf delivered a strong performance as Charles and attempted to add a few layers to this one dimensional character. The title role of Diana is portrayed by the underrated Jeanna de Waal. De Waal is a star and delivers an incredibly strong performance, even if she sounds nothing like Diana. With strong and brilliant acting choices and a stellar voice de Waal definitely has a Tony nomination in her future. Overall, Diana has its problems, but it's a fun musical (that your mom will definitely love) that is great if you just want a night out. You can currently watch Diana on Netflix, or you can watch it live at the Longacre theatre where it starts previews November 2 with an opening night of November 17. See ya'll next time!

My future's my design. My story's finally mine and I'll light the world. I'll light the world.