Princess Diana brought to life in new Broadway musical
A new musical about the late Princess Diana is currently in the works with performances taking place in March 2020. The director, Christopher Ashley, won a Tony Award for his work on Come From Away with the show’s music and book written by David Bryan and Joe DiPietro, who won a Tony for Memphis in 2010.
Diana will be played by Jeanna de Waal.
“To bring Diana to life onstage is obviously a huge privilege,” said de Waal of the role, as reported by Marie Claire. “I feel very daunted by the prospect, but I hope people who didn’t know about her and weren’t aware of her journey leave the theatre with an idea of what she did for the world. She made everyone feel special, from the highest person to the lowest-ranking person, and I think we want to celebrate her.”
There will be 23 songs featured throughout the show, with one of them being “A Pretty Girl in a Pretty Dress,” which will seemingly reference Diana’s famous “revenge dress” – a black, off-the-shoulder Christina Stambolian gown that she wore while attending the Serpentine Gallery summer party in 1994.
The Princess wore the jaw-dropping ensemble the same night Prince Charles confessed to having an affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles in a televised documentary.
DiPietro, who took great interest in Tina Brown’s book The Diana Chronicles told the Post that “(Diana) was a blue blood, she was beautiful, and she was a virgin, which was hard to find in 1980s London.”
The musical is said to focus on Diana’s life, with her tragic death being referenced in an epilogue.
Performances will begin on March 2, 2020 at the Longacre Theatre in New York.