THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA musical headed to the UK and West End in 2024

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 8/24/23 at 3:13pm

Very cryptic tweet from Theatre Fan suggesting Miranda Priestley...

https://twitter.com/ShaunTossell/status/1694744522180161919

And here's the pre-Broadway tryout thread for anyone needing a recap on how that went: https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=1153172

Updated On: 9/12/23 at 03:13 PM

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 8/24/23 at 3:15pm

I'm confused because I thought it was pretty much dead as it got such horrible reviews. Maybe they really reworked the material 

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 8/24/23 at 3:25pm

I think The Devil Wears Prada could make a truly great musical. What I saw in Chicago last year was pretty damn tragic. They literally need to scrap everything and start from scratch on this.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 8/24/23 at 4:14pm

Great! Let's subject the UK theater-going audience to the worst we have to offer! 

[JSquared2]

Posted: 8/24/23 at 4:41pm

How do you make the jump from that tweet saying "That's All" (meaning the show is dead) to "headed to the UK"?

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 8/24/23 at 4:49pm

Even comments in the original tweet are guessing this. I'm not the only one. haha.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 8/24/23 at 5:07pm

It’s supposedly with a new creative team, or at least a new director. Jerry Mitchell will be taking the helm.

[Theatrefan2]

Posted: 8/24/23 at 5:09pm

Reliable posters on theatreboard are saying its happening, and Miranda has been cast and people will likely be excited by it. Current favourite is Hannah Waddingham, but no one has confirmed one way or another yet 

[Voter]

Posted: 8/24/23 at 5:26pm

Call_me_jorge said: "It’s supposedly with a new creative team, or at least a new director. Jerry Mitchell will be taking the helm."

While also doing Boop?

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 8/24/23 at 5:30pm

It needs an entire new score from a new team. Whatever Elton gave us was…something 

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 8/24/23 at 5:31pm

Voter said: "Call_me_jorge said: "It’s supposedly with a new creative team, or at least a new director. Jerry Mitchell will be taking the helm."

While also doing Boop?"

Boop is Nov-Dec, so maybe Prada is happening in the spring?

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 8/24/23 at 6:09pm

And it was rumored/reported they were looking to bring this to the UK once Mitchell was brought on, so this wouldn’t be too much of a stretch. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 8/24/23 at 6:54pm

I want to know who the new bookwriter is!

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/24/23 at 9:08pm

Hannah would be wasted unless they've given her some brilliant songs - I don't remember anyone talking about the music much in the previews) 

[BenjaminNicholas2]

Posted: 8/24/23 at 10:18pm

Now that Elt has stopped touring, he might actually take the time to give a **** about this show.

He's capable...  He just has the attention span of dryer lint.

[BETTY22]

Posted: 8/25/23 at 11:58am

Told they are going to more of a Pretty Woman type show.

A literally transfer from scene to stage...not trying anything new. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 8/25/23 at 12:17pm

BETTY22 said: "Told they are going to more of a Pretty Woman type show."

mmmmm Pretty Woman The Musical, the pinnacle of theatrical excellence.

I so wish this had a team like Marianne Elliott, Michael R. Jackson, and Harvey Fierstein engaged from day 1.

[Charley Kringas Inc]

Posted: 8/25/23 at 1:45pm

RippedMan said: "Hannah would be wasted unless they've given her some brilliant songs - I don't remember anyone talking about the music much in the previews)"

I don't think I can recall any of the actual music from the tryout, just that there were songs. There was a lot of sloppy staccato semi-patter for Miranda, a song for when Andy is being shown around the office for the first time where it's just a list of inane do's and don't's (that one had potential imo), a song for not-Stanley Tucci about being gay in Kalamazoo, a completely useless number about having a fling in Paris, and then Andy's 11 o'clock number where she just sang "what's right for me?" over and over. I think the roommates also had a song but they were basically non-entities.

They basically whiffed the ball at every opportunity, it was kind of fascinating.

[Fordham2015]

Posted: 8/25/23 at 1:50pm

The clip they released of "Dress Your Way Up" wasn't bad

[BroadwaysBroad]

Posted: 8/25/23 at 2:52pm

I can’t wait for this to come to broadway.

I wasn't able to make it to Chicago for the production there sadly.

 

[PEK1787]

Posted: 8/25/23 at 5:24pm

JSquared2 said: "How do you make the jump from that tweet saying "That's All" (meaning the show is dead) to "headed to the UK"?"

I think "That's all" is a reference to the Miranda Priestly character. She says it when she is done giving orders to one of her employees, it basically means "we're done, go away".

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 8/25/23 at 5:51pm

I hope Anna D. Shapiro gets another chance to direct a big budget musical. I’m not sure what went wrong here for her.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/25/23 at 6:55pm

No offense to her, I just don't think this was her wheelhouse.  Jerry gets that campy frivolously vibe. Just make it fun, quick, and entertaining. Shapiro gave us August Osage County. Jerry could never.

[The Rural Juror]

Posted: 8/28/23 at 10:17am

I saw this in Chicago and, with a year of perspective, it's kind of funny how this didn't really work. It had elements that really could have worked in a better show, but some choices were just baffling. 

1. Andie's friends. Everyone these days makes jokes about how terrible Andie's friends are in the movie. So you'd think a musical in 2022 updating the story would either axe the characters, or give them a total re-write. Imagine my shock when the characters were not only present, but their horrible personalities were doubled-down on and they were STILL presented as being in the right. Baffling choice. 

2. Emily is one of the best characters in the movie, and she was changed into a total caricature here. On one hand I have to commend the creators for not just doing a copy-and-paste for everything, but boy was that a bizarre take on her character. 

3. From the moment I saw they had Beth in a brown wig, I knew something was off. Miranda's look is so iconic, and the white hair is a big part of that. Any actress in the role was probably going to be underserved, as Miranda only really had one song towards the end, but boy was Beth just laid out to dry here. She was giving it her best, so it was still entertaining, but she had little to work with. Her "That's All" patter song and the Cerulean song (if it was considered a full song) were memorable for me. 

Overall the production just wreaked of wasted potential. The big scenic moments (I'm thinking the Eiffel Tower transition, the red stairway to "Hell," and the dress forms descending from the ceiling during Nigel's song) were very memorable but stood out too much because the rest of the production was pretty bare. The performers were all underserved. This would basically need a complete re-do (with potentially keeping some of the standout moments listed above) for it to have a chance of working on Broadway.  

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 8/28/23 at 10:29am

Call_me_jorge said: "I hope Anna D. Shapiro gets another chance to direct a big budget musical. I’m not sure what went wrong here for her."

I think she'd be more than fine with something with the scale/tone of BAND'S VISIT or KIMBERLY AKIMBO. But, as Arthur Laurents said, sometimes directors just don't have the musical in their bones. Case in point: her Steppenwolf collaborator Pam Mackinnon (AMELIE).