THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA Musical - News & Discussion Thread — Page 21

I don't think the problem with Miranda's character has anything to do with the lack of songs. I think it has to do more with the fact that she is never "The Devil". She's never really terrifying or imposing. Sure, she's kind of rude to Andy a few times, but that's it. There are also so many moments that are just so out of character for the Miranda drawn in the novel and film (i.e. her kindly stepping aside for Andy to get photograph taken in Paris). She's just not mean enough. At all. Andy tells her in the second act during a conversation in Miranda's hotel suite that Miranda is a "force of nature", but we as the audience never really see or feel this character as being this terrifying force.

Anyone see the briefing claiming this “was one of the top selling world premiere events in Broadway in Chicago History.” Earning just shy of 6 million dollars over the span of its 5 weeks here. They have a hit here, whether it’s a critical success is another story. Wicked was also notably panned out of town, so who knows if they do any changes to this at all.

Updated On: 8/19/22 at 11:17 AM

Where on earth are they getting the idea Miranda shouldn't sing? There's never been a villain that sang in a musical? Come on. Sounds like the wrong team.

One thing I forgot to talk about to is the absolute awfulness of Andy’s friends. Their entire purpose is to basically obsess about Andy and talk about Andy. They have no backstory other than they know Andy and want her to give them her time and attention. Ironically the stupid song they sing about “we want her back” is the most Elton John sounding song in the entire show.

Jordan Catalano said: "One thing I forgot to talk about to is the absolute awfulness of Andy’s friends. Their entire purpose is to basically obsess about Andy and talk about Andy. They have no backstory other than they know Andy and want her to give them her time and attention.."



Saw this last night and completely agree. I haven't seen the movie in a while, so I don't have as much in memory to compare it to. But everything involving the friends (including boyfriend) was completely forgettable. Songs included. It really is a shame, but I really could care less if Andy got back together with her boyfriend or her friends. Whole dynamic was super lame. Every time we got one of these scenes, I couldn't wait for it to be over to get back to the action.

Now my thoughts about the play. First off the Taylor Iman Jones is very, very good. But she isn't GREAT. And frankly, I think she needed to be great in order to sell the show. I thought Beth Leavel was better as Miranda. At least in the first half when she was more menacing. And the show IS better in the first half when she IS more menancing. Once Andy makes the big change, the show loses a lot of its luster.

Besides the "friends" scenes, the biggest problem with the first act is the extended dance routine in front of the curtain for the Devil Wears Prada song. It goes on way too long and is boring AF. I guess they need the time to change the set and the costumes, but it totally and completely kills ALL momentum they have going. Makes me feel like I am watching a show on a cruise ship. What should be a killer end of the first act, ends up being overlong and a big letdown as they have already butchered the song before it starts to get good with the curtain reveal.

Speaking of the second act, too many forgettable scenes and score. I thought most of the music for the first half (minus the friends songs and the first half of The Devil Wears Prada) was pretty good. But the second act is a mediocre mess. No one cares if Andy gets back together with her boyfriend or friends. Frankly, I would have been more interested to see her turn into Miranda and the dark side. That just goes to show you how poor the book is.

On a positive note, I did like the costumes (for the most part) and the set. They put a ton of money into the set. Despite all the negative, I think there still is some potential here. Some of the songs ARE good. Most of the audience still had a good time. I think this could be a hit regardless of what the critics (or I) think. It is still an enjoyable evening. It IS better than Pretty Woman (although that one has more nostalgia). Hopefully, they can fix some of this stuff. But it needs a ton of work.

Updated On: 8/19/22 at 01:11 PM

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Call_me_jorge said: "Anyone see the briefing claiming this “was one of the top selling world premiere events in Broadway in Chicago History.” Earning just shy of 6 million dollars over the span of its 5 weeks here. They have a hit here, whether it’s a critical success is another story. Wicked was also notably panned out of town, so who knows if they do any changes to this at all."

The show's success in Chicago is solely based on the title (and, to some extent, the name Elton John) and doesn't have anything to do with the quality of the show itself. Many shows have been received well out of town. But Kevin McCollum knows the stakes will be much higher on Broadway, the competition will be stronger, and sales can disappear after ~5 months. He saw DOUBTFIRE firsthand. We've all seen CHER SHOW and MR. SATURDAY NIGHT and TOOTSIE and so many others that started pretty good and then dropped like a stone.

I doubt they are aiming for perfection or "Best Musical" status at this point. They just need a show that is coherent, entertaining, has a few enjoyable tunes, gets the story across, looks nice, and has some good performances. Easier said than done.

The release of the grosses was an attempt to change the narrative surrounding the NY Post piece. But a producer can still acknowledge a show is grossing wellfor nowwhile needing to have major changes."

That just short of six million dollars may or may not be a spit in the ocean depending on how much the Chicago run was capitalized at.

And a chunk of it goes to the theater owner.

If Elton will not do the work, it's dead.

A great director cannot fix bad material.

I just saw this today (very late in the run), and while I enjoyed it somewhat, I think there are unsolvable structural problems with the show. First of all, I think Beth Leavel is very much miscast as Miranda - she doesn’t have the stage presence or authority necessary to convey how intimidating Miranda is. Some of this is the fault of the writing - Miranda is entirely too self-aware in this version. Her song about Andy wanting to use her degree to make social change is too on the nose. The point of Miranda as a character is that you can’t really KNOW her and she’s just this intimidating sceptre. That’s not the case here. Miranda is much too human, and Beth doesn’t have the steeliness Miranda needs. The point of Miranda in the movie is also that she’s completely disinterested - she doesn’t really know or care about other people (which is why it’s such a big moment at the end when she says Andy reminds her of herself). Miranda in this version is too thoughtful and understands too much about Andy, and she notices too much in general.

I also really don’t like what the show has done to Andy. It’s written her as a naive and arrogant Gen Z striver, which makes her pretty obnoxious and cringey. She has no particular vision except that she wants to “use her writing to make a difference,” which I guess is realistic - as someone in my 20s myself, I saw many of the people in my own life in Andy. But…it’s so cringey! It’s cringey in real life when brand new graduates think they should land the perfect job immediately and make a huge difference, especially in this economy, and Andy doesn’t seem to have anything in particular going for her. Okay, she won some prestigious prizes in school and was involved in student leadership - so was I, and so were lots of my peers. That doesn’t make us special. Andy needs some kind of passion to make her stand out, and beyond vaguely “writing,” she doesn’t have one. How about “using her writing to expose the gaps in the social benefits system/climate change action/crime policy,” etc? Something specific that she cares about. Even her speech to Miranda about being smart and a hard worker…”smart” and “hard worker” are a dime a dozen in new graduates. She needs to have an idea or a specific dream, something that’s worth working for a year at Runway to help her accomplish. OR if they want to set up an Andy whose primary motivation is to “be someone,” that could also work well (and could be the thing that attracts her to Runway after she gets a first taste of it), but that needs to be clearer if that’s what they’re going for, ex. a scene in which newly made over Andy goes out somewhere with Miranda and Andy gets treated with a deference she’s never experienced before. Right now, Andy in this version is a shallow portrait of someone in her early twenties out in the world for the first time, and everyone is reacting to her with that in mind (ex her being very excited for Nigel and him shutting her down, her being outraged at Miranda’s betrayal of him).

But the biggest problem with the show is that it tries to make DWP realistic. The whole point of DWP is that it’s NOT realistic and it’s just fun. But when you make Andy a Gen Z-er in a tough economy trying to get a job to pay the rent and being talked down to by the more privileged adults around her, it makes it way less fun, and Andy’s friends blaming her for being chained to her phone seems particularly unfair if she genuinely can’t get another job. But there’s also no backstory or context to why Andy stays, beyond not being a quitter - she has to have a reason beyond that, or else her condescension towards the job she willingly agreed to do makes no sense. Most people don’t get a well paying job in their field just out of college, and Nate is employed, and Andy is still VERY young. Surely she could find another job to pay the rent while interviewing for better jobs. This show would have worked much better if it stayed in fantasyland of the Runway office instead of making it hyper-realistic (and yet failing to interrogate the context of any of these characters, ex is Andy experiencing systemic discrimination that makes it harder for her to find a job, are her parents unable to support her, is she the first person in her family to go to college and feeling like she needs to show her family that it was worth it for her to go?). Miranda needs to be the devil, not just a mean boss who everyone around her makes excuses for. That story is much less interesting, because yeah, mean bosses exist, lots of older bosses are mean to new grads, lots of white bosses are mean to Black employees. Either you report that stuff to HR or you leave. Not much else to do. But if Andy does what any new grad SHOULD do, which is assess the company culture, determine it’s not a good fit for her, and exit, then there’s no story at all. That’s why DWP works better as a kind of fairy tale story than a realistic one. And I’m not sure if this production, even heavily reworked, can fix that conceptual problem with the story itself.

Updated On: 8/20/22 at 05:46 PM

The fundamental problem with any adaptation: Andy is not a complex or compelling protagonist in a musical comedy. Her inherent “want” is small and impossible to dramatize in a laughably disingenuous story about a job at Vogue being a poor entry position in print media. So it becomes a tale wherein we wait for the privileged character to learn what the audience knows at the top. Zero genuine emotional suspense. The film is a guilty pleasure triumph in the depiction of the fascinating larger than life iteration of Wintour. Embodied by Streep’s sly comedic spin. The only hope for a stage show would be to aim for, say, a Nicole Kidman to reinvent Priestly. It’s a star role needing a big star to make the show matter to audiences. But you can fix Andy forever and still end up with a lopsided entertainment: we go to see Miranda terrorize, not watch a young upstart Learn Life Lessons.

I think the musical could work better if it leaned into the campiness instead of making Andy (and Nigel) so earnest. Making Andy a Gen Z striver is clearly the wrong idea, but…what if they made Andy stay at Runway to sort of beat Miranda at her own game? What if Andy was a worthy opponent for Miranda from the beginning, and she doesn’t like being talked down to (ex for her clothes) and she stubbornly decides to stay at Runway to prove to Miranda not to judge a book by its cover and to show she can’t be intimidated…and then she slowly becomes part of the culture she claims to stand against? In 2022, making Andy take this job just because she needs money doesn’t work. It makes the show too real, and the reality is Andy characters are a dime a dozen and Miranda realistically has no reason to give her a chance (and the reality is also that Andy has no reason to give Miranda a chance either). Andy has to have a reason to give Runway a chance beyond needing money for the show to be fun. Maybe Andy is secretly impressed by Miranda and aspires to be a strong female leader herself and thinks she might learn something that could serve her later in life. Maybe Andy’s friend Kayla really loves fashion and Andy wants to impress her/bring home free samples for her. The show would work better if there was at least some kind of equal-ish cat and mouse game being played between Andy and Miranda, rather than just an older white woman abusing a young Black recent graduate.

Was there a version of “the unpublished Harry Potter manuscript” in the musical?

Suddenly the sorry "Prada" plot has thickened. With the musical now history in Chicago and much of the cast headed back to New York, word comes that Sir Elton John actually has another musical "Tammy Faye" about to open at London's Almeida Theatre in October. I don't recall much if anything being said about "Tammy Faye" in the lead-up to the "Prada" run in Chicago. But the fact that Sir John had another show in the works may explain why he appeared to give such short shrift to "Prada." The composer came to a late preview, gave a perfunctory shotout to the cast during a concert two days later and then he was gone. Not a word from him since then about the show or his interest in doing the major work that would inevitably be needed if "Prada" is ever to make it to Broadway. Of course, "Prada" producer Keven McCollum has been quite mum as well -- leaving interested members of the theater community wondering if he already may have deposited the show in the dumpster and turned his attention to "The Notebook," another show opening next month at Chicago Shakes in which he reportedly has a vested interest. And speaking of mum, Trib critic Chris Jones also has said zilch about "Prada's" fate though I suspect he knows what's going on. Certainly if we are to read the tea leaves in the postings from various "Prada" cast members, it looks like they are all in search of the next show. All in all, it was a very sad Chicago outing for the deeply-flawed "Prada." But don't cry for Sir Elton yet. He just may have a big winner in the offing with "Tammy Faye."