THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA Musical - News & Discussion Thread- Page 5

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 7/19/22 at 12:17pm

Three's Company said: "lol, I literally made an account just to add my two cents but now I'm worried I'll be clocked as a shill too!

Either way, if this poster was invited to final dress they clearly have some connection, obviously they're going into it with a positive POV. To say they're being paid feels a little conspiratorial to me. People do actually talk like that– it seems like some folks on this thread really want to not like this show. I'm optimistic and I hope it's camp. I'm eagerly awaiting the reports of y'all in Chicago"


yeah it’s the older members of the boards thinking they’re always right and it’s not someone who saw the show, not being involved in any way, they’re obviously someone connected *insert BIG eye roll here*. And the older members are NEVER wrong, or judgmental, or anything. If someone joins during the early run of the show, they HAVE to be right if they say it’s because the person is somehow involved. Please. Post your thoughts. Ignore those people. They don’t care about anything except being right. 

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 7/19/22 at 12:21pm

Shill or not, I take invited dress and even some first preview reactions with a grain of salt. Same with early social media reactions from movie premieres. A lot of people get swept up in the energy and excitement, and aren't able to be objective with their critiques.

Updated On: 7/19/22 at 12:21 PM

[Azúcar!]

Posted: 7/19/22 at 12:28pm

TaffyDavenport said: "Shill or not, I take invited dress and even some first preview reactions with a grain of salt. Same with early social media reactions from movie premieres. A lot of people get swept up in the energy and excitement, and aren't able to be objective with their critiques."

Good.  Remember the people who posted raves after that first Funny Girl performance?  And remember the shills after The Cher Show had its first Chicago preview?

[gleek4114]

Posted: 7/19/22 at 2:47pm

Azúcar! said: "TaffyDavenport said: "Shill or not, I take invited dress and even some first preview reactions with a grain of salt. Same with early social media reactions from movie premieres. A lot of people get swept up in the energy and excitement, and aren't able to be objective with their critiques."

Good. Remember the people who posted raves after that first Funny Girl performance? And remember the shills after The Cher Show had its first Chicago preview?"

To be fair, The Cher Show in Chicago was a lot different (and somewhat better) than what ended up on broadway. 

[Valentina3]

Posted: 7/19/22 at 2:50pm

gleek4114 said: "Azúcar! said: "TaffyDavenport said: "Shill or not, I take invited dress and even some first preview reactions with a grain of salt. Same with early social media reactions from movie premieres. A lot of people get swept up in the energy and excitement, and aren't able to be objective with their critiques."

Good. Remember the people who posted raves after that first Funny Girl performance? And remember the shills after The Cher Show had its first Chicago preview?"

To be fair, The Cher Show in Chicago was a lot different (and somewhat better) than what ended up on broadway."

Agree a lot with this, but the first Chicago preview was not what actually ran in Chicago eventually. That first preview was messy...

[Moreski93]

Posted: 7/19/22 at 4:12pm

Hey if anyone’s going to performances tonight or this week, can you report back on the merch situation? Shill reviewers or not. Updated On: 7/19/22 at 04:12 PM

[Marlothom]

Posted: 7/19/22 at 4:39pm

I will be there and will report first impressions - though I never buy merch so don't pay much attention/visit the booths, so it might not be as detailed on that front.   Also, I agree, there was A LOT to like about The Cher Show in Chicago - before they turned it into a Broadway amusement park ride. 

[Menken Fan]

Posted: 7/19/22 at 7:18pm

I’ll be there tonight as well and will add my 2¢ on the show and merch. Fingers crossed for a entertaining evening. 

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 7/19/22 at 7:55pm

Anyone who posts on Instagram that they’re at the Nederlander tonight will have their posts show up here, then go to Recents. 

Updated On: 7/19/22 at 07:55 PM

[ChiDoc]

Posted: 7/19/22 at 10:38pm

Act 1 ran about 75 minutes. Intermission is about to end. I will post a lot more later (and yes, I also created an account recently to give my thoughts on this show), but it’s, well. They have some time.

Posted: 7/19/22 at 11:55pm

Updated On: 3/3/23 at 11:55 PM

[BalconyClub]

Posted: 7/20/22 at 12:00am

After Tuesday night’s first performance, cast and crew were treated to champagne. This is a lovely show to look at, but it’s a shallow story that’s not fulfilling.

The orchestra is great, with keyboards, two reeds, a trumpet, 2 violins (1 moves to viola for some numbers), a pair of guitars, one cello, a bass, a drummer and percussionist.

The music is varied, with many tender passages mixed in with runway pop.

This is a 2 hour 30 minute fashion show with book scenes added to connect one walkway to another. The fashions are plentiful and inspiring.

Half of Tuesday night’s audience was dressed in swanky outfits, while the other half bowed to the summer heat in shorts and tees.

The Playbill has no song list. Does anyone want to take a guess at the tune titles?

Act One song titles MAY be:

42nd St Tease (music only)

I Mean Business

Miranda’s Coming

Why Are You Here?

Here’s to the Jobs That Pay the Rent

Never

The Blue Sweater Song

The Boss is a Beast in Stilettos

She’s Got The Best Damn Girl for the Job

No Problem, All Set

Dress Your Way Up

Could I Still Love You If You’re Someone New

The Devil Wears Prada

In Act 2, Bon Voyage gives way to the beautiful reveal of the Eiffel Tower.

It’s in Act Two in the Paris scenes, that a weak plot needs to be made stronger, to make the blossoming of Andy Sachs more convincing.

 

Updated On: 7/20/22 at 12:00 AM

[StylishCynic]

Posted: 7/20/22 at 12:16am

A complete lobotomy of an evening. I will never get the time back. 
Many thoughts to post. Still processing. 

[ChiDoc]

Posted: 7/20/22 at 12:21am

Show let out at 10:40 CST, so it ran about 2:35 (with a 20 minute intermission, give or take).

I am fully aware this was a first preview, and technically it ran without a hitch.  The set has a triple turntable and a few moving parts, one of which was used to great effect for a scene change.  There were some flubbed lines, and there was a horrid echo effect put to the title number that made the lyrics incomprehensible.  Otherwise, it seemed to run smoothly.

As to the content, well, it’s okay.  I think the movie is pretty good, but I’m not super familiar with it.  This was pretty similar to the movie, especially with Beth Leavel often going into a replica of Meryl Streep’s line readings.  Most of the lines you would expect to hear were there, and I will give them credit with a very interesting take on the Cerulean monologue.

I just don’t think the first act is very good.  Aggressively mediocre and unfinished were the descriptors that came to mind.  There’s not enough development for Andy’s relationships with Emily or with Miranda. Frankly, there’s not enough Miranda through the whole show.  The songs have a lot of pacing issues and several don’t really have endings.  The humor is very dry and the actors underplay it at a rapid pace like the movie, so the jokes either didn’t land or the audience started laughing over more dialogue.  And they did not fix the boyfriend at all; the audience audibly started whispering when his song about how Andy has started ignoring him for her work.

The second act is significantly better, save one weird song that doesn’t fit the character arcs.  The humor lands more, there’s an energetic number that got applause for some nice costume reveals, and Javier Muñoz (who I thought was the night’s highlight) got a very lovely ballad. The ending needs better focus, but overall it’s a lot stronger after intermission.  My main issues with the act came from not having a solid foundation to build upon.

(Small note on the score- as orchestrated here, it doesn’t sound nearly as dated as those Elton preview clips did.  It’s still not a particularly memorable score, but it’s got some decent songs.  And some of the lyrics are repetitive or lazy.  I laughed when an early song just had 30 seconds of Ahs.  And the 11 o’clock number reminded me of Let It Burn with its repeated lyrics, but with less impressive gymnastics.)

Did I hate it?  No.  Did I like it?  I’m not sure.  It had its moments. I feel like I got what I expected.  My plan is to see it again later in the run to see if they change anything.  And hopefully they do.

I’m willing to share more, because I took a lot of notes, but I also don’t want to say a lot more specifically because I don’t know how to use spoilers.  Teeheehee

And to the girl next to me who was on her phone for half the show and never once clapped or laughed, I hope you had a great time!

Updated On: 7/20/22 at 12:21 AM

[Menken Fan]

Posted: 7/20/22 at 12:24am

Merchandise and intermission curtain



. 

​​​​​​

Updated On: 7/20/22 at 12:24 AM

[Marlothom]

Posted: 7/20/22 at 12:25am

This show needs a lot of work.  The reason the movie worked so well was that at some point they realized that a story about Andie, fresh out of water girl in NYC, trying to make it in NYC as a writer and struggling, was simply not going to keep audiences interested. So, they expanded Miranda’s storyline (maybe because they had Merryl Friggin’ Streep), gave her a house, a family, a life, which made her and the overall story, more interesting.  They fail to do so here (even though they have Beth Frigging Level).

None. I repeat. None of Andie’s story outside of Runway works.  Her relationship w her bf lacks any chemistry, stakes, passion, anything. Their scenes are painful, full stop.  One of the friends is non-binary or maybe trans, for whatever reason, and that also goes nowhere.  I think they need to make her life outside of Runway about her relationship w her roommate, Kayla, expand on that and try to make it interesting. 

Similarly, the character of Emily loses all of the magic from the movie that made you root for her, even though she was such a flawed character. Here you can’t make out anything she says in her Act 1 one song.  Or any of her lines.  Act 1 ends with Andie telling Emily she isn’t going to Paris and I didn’t give a f—k.  I saw her on the Mean Girls Tour and I think she needs to be more Regina and less Gretchen.  She has a fun number as the act 2 opener and then we never see her again till the end of the show. 

Miranda’s fashion needs to be ELEVATED.  Fashion.  I have no doubt some of those suits or dresses are from major labels (?) but you can’t tell that from the audience.  They read as plain and boring.  In the movie coats and that genius white hair did a lot of the work.  Here, in a plain red wig and nice dresses, it just doesn’t have the same impact. 
 

Finally, some of the best songs (Title song, dress you up?) are sung by the ensemble, so you can’t make sense of anything they are saying. I had to think if the title song!!!  was one of the songs I had heard on social media.  Beth sings a little bit of The Devil Wears Prada at the very end of the show (!) and finally it comes to life! Give here more songs!!! And the dress you up song needs to be take up at least a full step. I’m pretty sure Javier can handle it.  It’s too low and gets lost w all of the chorus singing along.  It’s like if My Strongest Suit was an ensemble song. 

Updated On: 7/20/22 at 12:25 AM

[ChiDoc]

Posted: 7/20/22 at 12:30am

Marlothom said: "This show needs a lot of work. The reason the movie worked so well was that at some point they realized that a story about Andie, fresh out of water girl in NYC, trying to make it in NYC as a writer and struggling, was simply not going to keep audiences interested. So, they expanded Miranda’s storyline (maybe because they had Merryl Friggin’ Streep), gave her a house, a family, a life, which made her and the overall story, more interesting. They fail to do so here (even though they have Beth Frigging Level).

None. I repeat. None of Andie’s story outside of Runway works. Her relationship w her bf lacks any chemistry, stakes, passion, anything. Their scenes are painful, full stop. One of the friends is non-binary or maybe trans, for whatever reason, and that also goes nowhere. I think they need to make her life outside of Runway about her relationship w her roommate, Kayla, expand on that and try to make it interesting.

Similarly, the character of Emily loses all of the magic from the movie that made you root for her, even though she was such a flawed character. Here you can’t make out anything she says in her Act 1 one song. Or any of her lines. Act 1 ends with Andie telling Emily she isn’t going to Paris and I didn’t give a f—k. I saw her on the Mean Girls Tour and I think she needs to be more Regina ans less Gretchen. She has a fun number as the act 2 opener and then we never see her again till the end of the show.

Miranda’s fashion needs to be ELEVATED. Fashion. I have no doubt some of those suits or dresses are from major labels (?) but you can’t tell that from the audience. They read as plain and boring. In the movie coats and that genius white hair did a lot of the work. Here, in a plain red wig and nice dresses, it just doesn’t have the same impact.


Finally, some of the best songs (Title song, dress you up?) are sung by the ensemble, so you can’t make sense of anything they are saying. I had to think if the title song!!! was one of the songs I had heard on social media. Beth sings a little bit of The Devil Wears Prada at the very end of the show (!) and finally it comes to life! Give here more songs!!! And the dress you up song needs to be take up at least a full step. I’m pretty sure Javier can handle it. It’s too low and gets lost w all of the chorus singing along. It’s like if My Strongest Suit was an ensemble song."

I agree with so much of this.  Miranda’s looks weren’t striking enough, and she needs her role expanded.  The boyfriend and Andy had no chemistry.  And I was also reminded of My Strongest Suit, and it made me wish I was watching Aida instead.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 7/20/22 at 12:32am

Thanks for these reviews. I’ll wait to see this until the end of its run here. Hopefully they do some work on it.

[Menken Fan]

Posted: 7/20/22 at 12:47am

I'm afraid I have to agree with the initial reviews here. Why do I keep getting my hopes up when we get a world premiere musical, and then we get something like this?  I was actually having flashbacks to the premiere of Pretty Woman. And this is after they were granted an additional 2 years to work on the show.

As noted, the story is muddled. I couldn't understand half of what was going on, partly due to missing 25% of the dialogue and lyrics from the horrible acoustics. The first act seemed to both rush and drag. At intermission, I thought why doesn't Beth Leavel have anything to sing?? She has one solo 10 o'clock number in act two, but she is seriously underused and her character underdeveloped.

I was confused about the time period for the show. It's clear that it's been set in modern day, since there are a few current references, such as to Zendaya, but the plot points about how important this print media operation is just seem dated. Also, it's a minor point, but the projections and proscenium have borders resembling old Kodak film strips, which I'm pretty sure are obsolete these days with digital photography. 

The show opens with an odd dance number featuring the half naked ensemble, men and women, all in red heels. Hmm. That was followed by the 'Here I am in New York to start my exciting career' song, which was followed in the office by the 'Here comes Miranda, she'll be here soon, get ready, she'll be walking in any second' song. And I knew we were not off to a unique or creative start.

Yes, the boyfriend and friends are almost unnecessary and horribly underdeveloped, as is Andie's relationship with them. Act two takes place in Paris. If you didn't get that, there's a large set of the base of the Eiffel Tower that lowers and fills the stage. And then it stays there for almost the entire act, with many scenes taking place under it. I realized it wasn't literal, when two different hotel room scenes took place under it. And if you still didn't get that we were in Paris, there were French sailors, ballerinas, and a mime.  Yes, a mime.

The ending was rushed, and I'm not really sure what happened in the plot, again partly due to bad acoustics.

I heard several audience member commenting on the way out that it needs work. I'd like to return late in the run to see if there are improvements. I hope there are, but they would need to be major changes to make a difference.

Updated On: 7/20/22 at 12:47 AM

[Matt Legg]

Posted: 7/20/22 at 1:19am

I agree with all of the above.  Taylor does a great job and is on stage for like 90% of the show. 

Beth is really forgotten which is such a shame.  Such an amazing performer should not be relegated to the background looking like 90s Reba McEntire. Her mic was way too low and it was hard to hear from where I was in the 3rd row.

The Javier Munoz ballad is definitely the showstopper of the show.  Was really the only "wow" moment of the show.

[Marlothom]

Posted: 7/20/22 at 1:23am

The show opens with an odd dance number featuring he half naked ensemble, men and women, all in red heels. Hmm. That was followed by the 'Here I am in New York to start my exciting career' song, which was followed in the office by the 'Here comes Miranda, she'll be here soon, get ready, she'll be walking in any second' song. And I knew we were not off to a unique or creative start.
 

I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THAT OPENING SEQUENCE? It was the first thing we saw, so I got deep, thinking " wow, everyone is naked, how interesting! maybe they will make a point about how important fashion is . .. or how "fashion" is relative . .. or SOMETHING! There is no payoff to making the cast be nearly naked.  Or the sound of the clicking heels!   

I LOVE Chicago World Premieres, because every performance you see through the run of the show is different (I saw the Pretty Woman where Vivian closed the jewelry box on Edward!), but this show needs A LOT of work.  Debating going back this weekend to see what they've changed.  

Updated On: 7/20/22 at 01:23 AM

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 7/20/22 at 1:26am

My great fears of this seeming like an incoherent production team are coming true (a director known for plays not musicals, a novice bookwriter, a pop composer legend who is phoning it in, and a very promising songwriter relegated to just lyrics). But it sounds like the book is the biggest problem, not the score?

For a 2022 adaptation of this show, it could be interesting to illustrate the generational differences of Miranda (a character in her 60s) being hyperfocused on a print magazine when in fact they need to pivot to digital to survive.

Hopefully Kevin McCollum learned from DOUBTFIRE and won't rush this one to Broadway if it gets eviscerated out of town. Is it selling in Chi?

[Bill Snibson]

Posted: 7/20/22 at 1:31am

Miranda Priestly is by far the best character in the movie but how do you make someone who speaks in a whisper and says not much more then “that’s all” sing? I’m so curious. Not every movie needs to be musicalized. I’ll have to wait til NYC for this one. Maybe they can do the work and make this a big fun campy bubblegum show like Mamma Mia.

[ChiDoc]

Posted: 7/20/22 at 1:34am

Bill Snibson said: "Miranda Priestly is by far the best character in the movie but how do you make someone who speaks in a whisper and says not much more then “that’s all” sing? I’m so curious. Not every movie needs to be musicalized. I’ll have to wait til NYC for this one. Maybe they can do the work and make this a big fun campy bubblegum show like Mamma Mia."

I actually kind of enjoyed their way of making her sing, even if it didn’t show off Leavel’s talents at all.  Miranda gets very thin orchestrations and at times verges on patter with harpsichord.  She doesn’t really let loose in song until the end where she gets a song about her internal rage.  It sort of worked for me?

[Marlothom]

Posted: 7/20/22 at 1:37am

Bill Snibson said: "Miranda Priestly is by far the best character in the movie but how do you make someone who speaks in a whisper and says not much more then “that’s all” sing? I’m so curious. Not every movie needs to be musicalized. I’ll have to wait til NYC for this one. Maybe they can do the work and make this a big fun campy bubblegum show like Mamma Mia."

What you do, is you give her smarter lyrics than any other character, which maybe end a biting "that's all".  They do that on a good number where she is interviewing Andie and READING HER FOR FILTH! And It gave me great hopes for what was to come . . .but then nothing more comes from this character, aside from quotes from the movie.  They even have an ensemble member walk in in a floral dress, just so that she can say "florals for Spring? Riveting".. . . and get some polite laughs/applause.  For F's sake, this woman can belt! Did no one in this production team see "The Prom"? Miranda is 75% Dee Dee! 

Updated On: 7/20/22 at 01:37 AM