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| My review of DIANA: Di, Charles, Camilla, even the Queen, sing and dance | |
| Posted by: jesse21 01:23 pm EST 03/03/19 | |
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| - I can’t seem to find a decent new musical these days. It’s not that I gave up trying in New York and flew to San Diego to catch the world premiere of Diana, a musical not about Diana Ross but instead the late Princess Di. No, I happened to be in San Diego, noticed that this new musical was in final previews, ventured over to the La Jolla Playhouse and got a ticket on the spot; good seat too. Now, La Jolla has a tradition of nurturing musicals for Broadway. They originated the current hit Come From Away and past blockbusters like Jersey Boys and The Who’s Tommy. They also are responsible for recent flops like Summer and Escape to Margaritaville. Diana (which opens tonight), I am afraid, is another dog. This show boasts an impressive lineup of creators, but in every instance, all of them are working well below par. The writing team of Joe DiPietro (book and lyrics) and David Bryan (music and lyrics) had a hit with Memphis, the 2010 best musical Tony winner. This time around, the book, which concentrates on the triangle that is Diana Spencer, her husband Prince Charles and his mistress Camilla Parker Bowles, is no more than a series of headlines and subheads you might have read on the covers of supermarket tabloids while waiting in the check-out line back then when all this was going on.The songs are generic pop rock with little or no individuality that do not even reflect the 1980s and 1990s in British pop sound. Additionally, you’d think the writers would give distinctive voices to these outsized and very different people (add Queen Elizabeth II as the fourth main character) but they don’t. The score is a series of one innocuous dud after another. Then there is poor casting from the Telsey group. Diana is played by Jeanna de Waal who has a couple Broadway credits (Kinky Boots). It’s a major problem when an actor portrays a real-life charismatic superstar but fails to standout even among the women in the ensemble. Erin Davie (Side Show revival) as Camilla comes off as the prettier one which is really weird. Beyond that, Ms. Davie captures nothing of her character’s actual personality. Worse is the casting of Roe Hartrampf (regional and Off Broadway credits) as a Prince Charles without character traits. At one point, wearing a riding costume, he strips off his shirt, looking like a fireman posing for a calendar photo. His wooden acting fits the pose. The best-known member of the cast is Broadway’s Judy Kaye. She illogically plays Elizabeth coarsely rather than regally, as when she belts an awful song about marrying a military man. (The Queen, a belter! Really now.). Ms. Kaye is better in her other role as romance novelist Barbara Cartland, a vision in pink chiffon (of course) in two numbers inserted mainly for comic relief although they are not funny. By the way, Ms. Cartland was Diana’s step-grandmother and her books were the only ones Diana read as a young woman. This musical is directed by La Jolla’s artistic head, Christopher Ashley, and choreographed by Kelly Devine, the team responsible for Come From Away for which he won a Tony. They move their large ensemble about the stage often as a lumpy mass of people. The general movement pattern becomes tiresome. I could go on for paragraphs about ill-advised scenes but I will only mention the opening number which uses a girl (Taylor Coleman) with an irritating squeaky voice as young Diana in order to squeeze in biographical information that is unnecessary and stalls the musical even as it begins. I could also mention second act scenes featuring a cartoon-like James Hewitt (Garett Keegan), with whom Diana had an affair, that are so over the top, they are laughable. Or a clumsily inserted scene when Diana first visits an AIDS ward that is cringe-worthy. The production design surprisingly is a big disappointment. Set designer David Zinn (Tony for SpongeBob) provides little more than a palace backdrop. And, rather shockingly, because there are three numbers about Diana as a fashion icon, William Ivey Long’s costumes do not dazzle despite over 30 outfits for the title character. In fact, there was even considerable intermission buzz about ill-fitting dresses. Oh, and I should mention that audience-member strangers I chatted with before the show and during the intermission were very nice, informed theatergoers who proved to be more interesting than anything on stage. Yep, Diana, the new musical, is a bomb. ★ ½ ☆ ☆ ☆ - Jesse, now enjoying the sun in Palm Springs - |
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| re: My review of DIANA: Di, Charles, Camilla, even the Queen, sing and dance | |
| Posted by: StageLover 06:30 pm EST 03/03/19 | |
| In reply to: My review of DIANA: Di, Charles, Camilla, even the Queen, sing and dance - jesse21 01:23 pm EST 03/03/19 | |
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| This is worse than a Jesse Green pan. | |
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| re: My review of DIANA: Di, Charles, Camilla, even the Queen, sing and dance | |
| Posted by: carolinaguy 03:05 pm EST 03/03/19 | |
| In reply to: My review of DIANA: Di, Charles, Camilla, even the Queen, sing and dance - jesse21 01:23 pm EST 03/03/19 | |
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| This sounded ill-advised from the start and nothing I’ve read during the previews indicates anything other than a dud. Musicals about real-life royalty very rarely seem to work. For every CAMELOT, there are a dozen REXes. At least it’s a perfect time of year to be in Palm Springs. |
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| re: My review of DIANA: Di, Charles, Camilla, even the Queen, sing and dance | |
| Last Edit: Ann 03:59 pm EST 03/03/19 | |
| Posted by: Ann 03:47 pm EST 03/03/19 | |
| In reply to: re: My review of DIANA: Di, Charles, Camilla, even the Queen, sing and dance - carolinaguy 03:05 pm EST 03/03/19 | |
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| Relieved to find out there are "nice, informed theatergoers "in the San Diego Whew! | |
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