Photo Courtesy of La Jolla Playhouse
“Diana: The Musical” is dedicated to Princess Diana through its title but doesn’t specifically focus on Lady Di until well into the second act. The musical originally premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse in California and moved to Broadway a year later for only two weeks before Broadway shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Diana’s Broadway production was released on Netflix on Friday, Oct. 1. It gives notoriety to Broadway and its current story by focusing on the life and troubles of Lady Diana, Princess of Wales.
Tony Award-winning director Christopher Ashley directed the premiere production of “Diana” at the La Jolla Playhouse beginning in the spring of 2019. Ashley joined forces with David Bryan of Bon Jovi and Joe DiPietro for a total of 24 musical numbers in the premiere production, of which 14 ran in Act I and 10 in Act II. For the Broadway production and its subsequent Netflix pro-shot, Ashley, Bryan and DiPietro added five more songs to the show and changed many from the La Jolla Playhouse production. Overall, the creative team kept only 14 songs between both productions, and two of those were combined into a singular song.
The alteration of the songs in Act I of the Broadway production blurred the message of the show and its focus. The musical is titled “Diana” and focuses on her life story, but throughout Act I, it feels like the focus is on Camilla, Dutchess of Cornwall, and Prince Charles instead, with Diana as a side note. Most of the musical numbers begin with Diana and her perspective but then switch to Charles and Camilla’s relationship while still “featuring” Diana. It feels almost as if Diana’s character is only a featured artist in the album of DiPietro and Ashley’s view of her life.
In the premiere production, the most amazing aspect of the show was how Ashley portrayed the press throughout, particularly in the song and reprise of “Snap, Click.” Mirrors surrounded the set, adding the overwhelming effect of camera bulbs flashing to highlight how Diana must have felt being constantly scrutinized by the British press and paparazzi.
In watching the Netflix film recording from Broadway, that aspect was lost because the director of photography for the film didn’t consider how to effectively use the cameras to add to the impact of the paparazzi. While the cameras did capture the scene, they were not placed at angles that could record the reflections of flash and multiply the individual paparazzi actors into something of a mob. This issue was the biggest disappointment from the creatives at Netflix and the production not capturing their work in the best and most impactful way possible.
While “Diana” may have failed in the first act’s storytelling, it was redeemed by the second act’s musical numbers and the incredible cast and creative team. Jeanna de Waal is an incredible Diana who magnificently sings and portrays Diana’s rebellion against the standards of the Crown. If you are looking to learn more about Lady Diana, Prince Charles and their tale of royalty, watch “Diana: The Musical” on Netflix, or see the production on Broadway for a more complete experience.
