Skip to main content

Mobile Ads

Diana musical sets Netflix run and Broadway opening night after prolonged pandemic-caused delay

Diana, a new musical about the idolised but ill-fated British princess, managed to get through nine preview performances before Broadway shut down last March.

Now, one year, one pandemic, and one Oprah interview later, the show is ready to try again, with a new strategy and a new context.

In a first for a Broadway show, a filmed version of the stage production will start streaming before the musical opens. Diana, which was shot over a week last September in an audience-less Longacre Theater, will begin streaming on Netflix on 1 October, and then two months later, on 1 December, will resume previews on Broadway.

The musical’s producers announced Tuesday that they intend to open 16 December, which is 625 days after its originally scheduled, but pandemic-postponed, opening night. The producers are putting their Broadway tickets on sale now, and counting on the Netflix film, which will have an open-ended run, to boost interest in the stage production.

“I think people will see the movie and will say, that’s a show I want to see in person,” said Frank Marshall, a prominent filmmaker who is one of the musical’s lead producers. Another lead producer, the Broadway veteran Beth Williams, acknowledged that the plan involves “a slightly more complicated rollout,” but added “we feel like it’s an incredible opportunity to put Diana in front of the global Netflix audience, and then give them an opportunity to see it live.”

Broadway, of course, remains closed in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus, and producers expect that most full-scale plays and musicals won’t attempt to start performances until after Labor Day. Diana, which chronicles the life and death of the Princess of Wales, who was the first wife of Prince Charles, is among the first shows to put tickets on sale and to choose a specific date for a target opening.

The scheduling, Marshall said, was a matter of trying to anticipate how the country’s post-pandemic reopening will unfold, and trying to coordinate the two projects to strengthen them both. “We wanted to make sure our marketing plans aligned,” he said. “I’m very optimistic about the fall, for both movies and for Broadway.” (A spokesman for the show declined to say how much Netflix paid for the streaming rights.)

The musical, featuring Jeanna de Waal in the title role, is directed by Christopher Ashley and choreographed by Kelly Devine, who previously collaborated on Come From Away; it was written by Joe DiPietro and David Bryan (the Bon Jovi keyboardist), who created the Tony Award-winning Memphis.

Through virtual and in-person work, the show, which had a pre-Broadway production at La Jolla Playhouse, was revised early in the pandemic. The producers said they do not expect further revisions, and expect their cast to remain intact.

Diana has remained an object of public fascination in the years since her death in a 1997 car crash. But her story also has a contemporary sequel, as her younger son, Harry, and his wife, Meghan, stepped away from their royal duties, and, in an interview this month with Oprah Winfrey, he said that “my biggest concern was history repeating itself.”

The lives of Diana’s children are not the subject of the new show. “You see Diana become a mother, but her children are not in the musical,” Williams said. “We’re telling the story of a complicated marriage, and at the same time we’re telling a coming-of-age story, and we’ve always seen it as a celebration of Princess Diana, whose legacy will live forever.”

The producers said they don’t yet know what sort of safety protocols might be required for cast, crew, or ticket holders at the in-person production. Will there even be an opening night party? “There will be a celebration,” Williams said. “It’s too soon to know what that will look like.”

Michael Paulson c.2021 The New York Times Company


by The New York Times

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Watch The Sound with Mark Ronson Apple TV+ explores the curious link between music and technology

In The Salmon of Doubt , Douglas Adams writes: “I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies: 1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary, and is just a natural part of the way the world works. 2. Anything that's invented between when you’re 15 and 35 is new and exciting and revolutionary, and you can probably get a career in it. 3. Anything invented after you're 35 is against the natural order of things.” Cut to the world of music. As much as technology has been a driving force in the industry, the advent of any innovation has often been received with skepticism before it goes on to become the norm. Harnessing that interplay between the creative process of making music and the technological enhancement given to said music, is acclaimed DJ and producer Mark Ronson. In his just-released six-part mini-docuseries Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson , he astutely defines how different the process of creating a great ...

Shakuntala Devi director Anu Menon, Abundantia Entertainment reunite to announce murder mystery

Director Anu Menon and production house Abundantia Entertainment are set to reunite for a murder mystery after Vidya Balan-starrer  Shakuntala Devi , the makers said on Monday. According to a press release, the film is in the final stages of screenplay, with principal photography expected to begin in April-May 2021. Menon said she had a great time working with Abundantia Entertainment on Shakuntala Devi and is happy to have joined hands with the banner for her new movie. “Their passion for telling compelling stories and commitment to a director’s vision are rare to find. We have a very different story coming up this time round and I hope we receive the same love from the audience as we did for our first collaboration together,” the director said in a statement. See the post View this post on Instagram A post shared by Anu Menon (@directormenon) Vikram Malhotra, founder, and CEO, Abundantia Entertainment said Menon has a unique style of storytelling that is i...

Coronavirus Outbreak: Disney announces phased reopening of Paris theme park from 15 July

Walt Disney Co will reopen its Disneyland Paris theme park in phases from 15 July, days after it plans to open its parks in the United States, the company said on Monday. It expects to reopen Disneyland Park, Walt Disney Studios Park, Disney’s Newport Bay Club hotel and Disney Village, according to Natacha Rafalski, president of Disneyland Paris. Check out the announcement here We’re pleased to announce that @DisneyParis_EN will begin a phased reopening of the resort starting with Disneyland Park, Walt Disney Studios Park, Disney’s Newport Bay Club hotel and Disney Village as of July 15, 2020. Learn more: https://t.co/F5ga3qffIW pic.twitter.com/mb3PiQ4o2N — Disney Parks News (@DisneyParksNews) June 22, 2020 The company had closed its theme parks around the world in January as the coronavirus started spreading globally, leading to sweeping lockdowns and travel restrictions. (Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak) Disney also said last month it would re...