Saw this again tonight and to their credit they've made some changes that improve the show - particularly in Act 1 - though for reasons we have discussed, they can't change/cut any of the songs yet. Understudy, Jessie Hooker Bailey was on for Andy Sachs and I enjoyed her more than Taylor Iman Jones, who I saw at the first preview. Particularly her singing had more "wow" moments.
A few changes - in the preview, Andy went from getting the call that she got the job, immediately to her first day at Runway, to then having drinks with her friends and singing about "first jobs we put up with". Now she goes from getting the call, to the scene at the bar, to her first full day at Runway. It works better, but they need to change the dialogue because her friends are asking her all sorts of questions that she wouldn't have answers to - since her only experience at the place has been the interview.
They are adding more context to Andy's relationship with her boyfriend by removing the two other friends/roommates from Act 1 scenes. More specifically, the scene where the four of them are watching a movie, is now just Andy and BF, and the dialogue makes it known that they are celebrating their 4 yr. anniversary. This makes it more of an issue when she has to walk out of him to take a call from work.
It seemed to me that the Megan Masako Hailey, who plays Emily, is using a deeper voice and is overall more cutting in her scenes. I recall her having a mousy/squeaky tone at first preview. This a) makes her easier to understand b) works better as she "softens" up during the show. That said, they still need to flesh this character out. Act 1 ends with Andy telling Emily she is not going to Paris but no one cares. In the movie, Emily Blunt had a dozen zingers and moments that made you root for her - one song and a few lines do not accomplish this for our pal Megan. As a result, there is no suspense at the end of Act 1.
They've thankfully removed the mime from the Act 2 song where inexplicably, the character of Christian, who is a writer, breaks into a stylized hip hop/ La La Land dance break with Andy before sleeping with her. The gay sailors and the "two women in gowns" are still there.
A few key things they need to fix (outside of songs which need to wait till Elton gets here).
The opening sequence is still puzzling. You hear the sounds of stilettos clicking and then the curtain rises a bit to reveal bare legs and red heels ( a little 42nd St). Then it rises fully and you see the ensemble in flesh color body suits/dance belts stomping around and they break into some sort of hip hop/lock choreography. It gives you the sense you are about to see a highly stylized show - when in fact, you are going to see a fairly straight forward retelling of the movie. They have added some of the heel clicking to the transitions in Act 1 but it still doesn't make sense.
The show is sandwiched between Andy saying she wants to write something important and ultimately writing "The Devil Wears Prada the book". This needs more development, something that let's us know she's absorbing everything, keeping track, anything, Tonight, when she's interviewing for the local newspaper at the end, the interviewer tells her "hey you should write a book about that experience!"
The fashion needs to be elevated. The song "Dress You Way Up" is a fashion show, a la Strongest Suit, or the Bob Mackie moment in the Cher Show. However, all the dresses are white (!). They look like they are in peplum or not finished. COLOR! Details, will create the "WOW" moment this number desperately needs. No one clapped for any of the dresses.
The title song at the end of Act 1 is still difficult to understand because the ensemble sings most of it, though I realized tonight they try to rhyme "nada" with "Prada". They need to give this song to Beth - she is terribly underutilized - parroting lines from the movie and only one great moment at then end.
The ending is very wonky. In the movie, Andy quits because she senses she is going to be Miranda's assistant forever - and she hates herself for what's she become. Here, after "the great betrayal", Miranda tells Andy "start thinking about what's next", meaning, she's on her way up! Ready for the next move - it doesn't make sense for her to quit now!
"Observe how bravely I conceal this dreadful dreadful shame I feel."
Updated On: 7/28/22 at 12:21 AM
