A Painstaking Autopsy of Diana the Musical. 

I mean I'll be honest, making a Broadway musical out of a woman who is famous for dying a horrible, tragic, violent death, something that happened only a little over 20 years, is just kind of bad taste on principle alone. With something like Hamilton, everyone in it has been dead for at least 200 or so years. Granted, boiling down Princess Diana to "the lady who died" is obviously a huge disservice to her legacy, but even if she were alive today, the musical would only really go from "tasteless" to "tacky". To me, trying to tell a Broadway narrative about a real person from, again, not that long ago, just feels a bit strange? I couldn't tell you when the golden time frame for it being okay to make a musical about a real person is, in fact I'm sure I could think of an exception to my own ill-defined rule if I tried, but the whole thing just reads as incredibly strange and off-putting to me. I respect the creative ambition behind it, and I understand that the creators were coming from a genuine place of sincerity, but I'm still ultimately not fond of the idea of a "Princess Diana Musical".

I think it's only fair that we get to do a West End musical about Jackie Kennedy on this side of the pond now

Suddenly obsessed with the thought of a mom somewhere collecting Pillsbury dough boy ceramics, crying over a picture of Diana

This is the season of Diana. Between this musical, The Crown, and Spencer it's a little ridiculous that everyone picked now to revisit this story. Let the woman rest.

The hatred isn’t coming from the actual quality of the show, it’s coming from disgust over a tragic death being exploited for entertainment. Also the public is going to see a tonal mismatch with the upbeat poppy vibes of the show juxtaposed with the fact that most people’s first thought when considering Diana is her death. The use of Diana’s death seems like a parody of musical theater you’d see in something like 30 Rock or Arrested Development

I truly don’t understand how no one involved in this show didn’t think it was in incredibly poor taste.

I still think the campiness would only work if it was a fictionalised story rather than about Diana. Reframe it like a Princess Diaries ‘common rocker girl marrying a stuffy prince’ and it could work, but having it be about Diana will always have this underlying tinge of ‘this feels wrong’

Brendon, I usually agree with you but I gotta say, I thought the ending ruined it. I watched the pro-shot with a friend, and we were baffled by the first act but were on board for the second...until the last two minutes. It looked like they were going to end on a bittersweet but triumphant note, with Diana leaving the palace but looking ahead to better things, and yet we all know how it ends, etc., and that would have been enough. But after two hours of jerking around the tone between Mommie Dearest melodrama and high camp, announcing her death in the last 45 seconds is just a last-second, desperate heartstring pull, and showing a resigned Diana LITERALLY WALKING INTO THE TUNNEL WHERE SHE DIES is the definition of bad taste. It’s tantamount to ending an Elvis musical with him entering the restroom.

I agree that both Six and Diana The Musical can be pretty tacky. The big difference is that Six is intentionally tacky. That's what it uses to lure you in, only to then get you interested in who these women actually were aside from "wife no. X of Henry the 8th". It's not necessarily 100% accurate history, but it deliberately plays into the misconceptions to get you to actually care about the historical figures. It knows its own style and it knows what it wants to do. Plus, it knows when to get completely serious and doesn't mess around when it does (case in point: Katherine Howard). Diana The Musical doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. Does it want to be camp? Serious? Dramatic? And then there's the fact that the lyrics just aren't good.

It kind of scares me that people didn’t know that was a dream sequence lol. I’m not a Diana expert but I’m pretty sure she didn’t usually wear tear away gowns to the orchestra lol

I really hope Proshots don't die.. because how else are we supposed to preserve these shows. It's already a shame that you have to basically go to a lot of strange lengths to get many of these broadway tier performances. What a shame so many are lost to time, both good and bad.

They should rename this show, “Springtime for Diana”.

I think this show was a victim of poor timing. First there was the pandemic and then they released the pro-shot around the same time as Spencer, which was telling a similar story but had a singular tone and focus. I feel like camp would have been the better way to go due to Spencer being the more serious take.

The lines in the songs of Starkid's Twisted are way more effective and impactful to the audience, and that was written as a comedy/parody musical. Princess Diana deserves something better and respectful to her legacy.

I’m glad to hear they cleaned up the ending, my idea would be to use those gorgeous gates that they must have spent so much money on. I would like to have her walk through the gate, for them to close and then starting slowly and building to full on storm, flowers begin gently falling from above and begin to bury the stage to mark the outpouring of grief by those who loved her, mirroring what actually happened.

I think the fact that the pro-shot was done with no audience also worked against it. You can tell that in comparison with the ones we have of Hamilton and Come From Away (aside from the fact that they are both much much better shows) there's just a different energy in the room, and they keep rushing from one number into the next to not create an awkward pause where applause would have been. There's a clinical feeling to it that doesn't work with a filmed live performance.

is it just me or does the actress look more like hillary clinton than diana with that hair?

It is UNBELIEVABLY funny to watch this as a Brit because so much of the culture is wrong. For one, portraying everyone as poor and bitter in Wales is just...deeply funny (Wales is a developed and thriving country with many wonderful creative and vital industries) making out the public all adored Diana (very, very untrue, she was very divisive and even today it's about 50/50 on whether you loathe or love her), making out that Prince Charles desperately wanted to be king (really not true) and that Diana had a great relationship with her staff (many leaked on her and complained about her emotional problems). Making her out to be a ditsy cutesy princess was just bizarre when she was such a cunning, smart, and very PR savvy woman.

I feel like making a musical of her is the after death version of the paparazzi following her around - it is still just exploiting her. I haven't seen it though, to be fair.

Sounds like they did a ProShot too soon. They still needed to iron out some kinks, but the pro shot locked them in somewhat to the version on Netflix.

I'd love to see you cover the Raggedy Ann musical! It spent 30+ years as lost media until September of this year, when the very dedicated lost media search effort found a full proshot of a performance of the 1984 production! (We were repeatedly told that no such thing existed) The show has a very interesting and rocky history, complete with striking controversy with parents and massive rifts between creatives working on it. The American company even went to Moscow for a short tour as part of a cultural exchange!

It feels a little...weird to be laughing at the campy loose retelling of Diana's story knowing how it will all end. I'm enjoying the weirdness of This Is How Your People Dance and its historical connection, but that doesn't really leave the uneasiness underneath. What's next, a silly musical about that wacky JFK? A charming little arrangement about The Day The Music Died? Edit: okay actually the finale being handled with absolute gravity after the removal of the Rent-esque message number is a plus, i will give them that

I agree with you! Saying an audience will avoid seeing a show because they watched the pro shot is like saying music lovers will avoid seeing a concert because they bought the album.

A buddy of mine is in the show and he’s worked so hard and I’m sure it must be so disappointing to see to vitriolic hate. Thank you for being kind and fair, as you always are.

No brits were harmed in the making of this musical. (or even involved...)

I mean…Six isn’t perfect, but its reinvention approach works and is a ball of fun and the songs are a straight up BOP. Diana is…I don’t even know 🤣😂🤣😂 Tacky trash. That’s the only thing I can think of!

I saw it the night before the shut down (It was a solid forty minutes longer then). But what I'll never forget is speaking to the bartender in the theatre. I made a comment that I was prepared to brace myself for a devastating evening. He just grinned and said "You'll have a GREAT time." And then poured more booze ( a hero). That set the tone for me

1) The Dough Boy Musical is the "I've been in the kitchen" vine 2) This one goes right between Riverdale musical episodes & Dear Evan Hansen in terms of quality

Wow. Once again you've managed to tell the story of a musical that everyone hates in a compassionate, smart way. You basically talked about everything I hate about the show (the inconsistency, dropping of plot lines that have potential etc.) in a way I could never articulate and sang the praises of everything I loved. It's so refreshing to hear a fair, well rounded review of this show But wow I'm almost tempted to dislike after seeing that video of Prince Charles breakdancing. I'll be scarred forever

When I first heard this was a thing; my mind went to “oh god - does seatbelt get a song as well?”

Ugh, i hope this show doesn't deter pro-shots. Because I'm definitely the type of person that would go and see a show live if I loved the pro-shot. Especially because broadway is so expensive. It helps some if you know you'll like something going in.

The reason why I personally didn't like "This is how your people dance" is that while it is by far the catchiest song from the musical (other than Snap Click, perhaps) it has no purpose and its placement in the show is odd to say the least. This is the setting: Charles and Diana's first date; a classical concert she finds rather boring. While the first part makes sense and alligns with Diana's boredom, the chorus doesn't feel allined with the rest of the musical. "This is how your people dance!" is the song's main argument...but so far there has been nothing to suggest that Charles is disconnected from his people. He is passionate about classical music, but that doesn't necessarily make him old-fashioned or out of touch. Also Diana's "young and free, everything I want to be" just doesn't make sense: she is nineteen here and being courted by the prince of her dreams. Her feelings of being stuck and lonely should develop later, otherwise: why is she here? Why has she so eagerly agreed to date the prince of her own free will if it goes against "everything she wants to be"? And then there's the awkward mix of modern and contemorary slang. "Funkadelic" followed by "Freddie Mercury would slay it" and the complaint that Charles listens to music by "dead, white men" in a single minute is corny at best, cringy at worst. Diana, on the other hand, loves living white men such as Adam Ant and Freddie Mercury. And finally there;s "Perhaps this girl could turn him into a rocker". While one could argue that Diana already wants to change Charles as there are bits about him she doesn't like, it is still very VERY early in the story for her to be so determined. The song almost feels like something that could be sung midway through their marriage, when the glamour of royal life has no appeal to Diana and she regains confidence that her life can turn for the better if she and Charles change with their times. This early in the story...Diana herself isn't a rocker yet, she is a conventional aristocratic girl, who naively falls for the prince. It is only later, after her character development, that she proves her unconvential ways.

Your comment about Diana and Charles not really seeing much of each other at the beginning, and only talking to their close friends and family about the other, is very much how it really happened! The courtship was awkward and rushed. But The Crown was able to convey how much the rules of royal marriage turned the whole thing into a business transaction while also giving us at least 1-2 early moments that showed WHY they were initially attracted to one another. It seems like the musical could have leaned into Diana and Charles not really understanding each other and showing that that's a big Warning Sign, but they also wanted us to root for them.

I absolutely adored Erin Davie as Camilla! Her longing for Charles, while being in a complex marriage to her then husband, it was nuanced and so good! She made me a hardcore Camilla fan, something I never thought I would be. She also acted “older”, so it was believable that she was Diana’s senior. Something I unfortunately didn’t get from Charles.

Everyone knew it was a fantasy/dream sequence, I don’t think the issue was confusion

I’m so glad to hear they cut that musical tag at the end! When I watched the pro-shot, I thought, “you had such a good ending if you had just done a blackout when she leaves! Why did you have that last 15 seconds?” I haven’t seen the stage version (probably won’t unless it tours), but the pro-shot felt like a show that would work better live.

I find it fascinating that the keyboardist for Bon Jovi wrote the songs. It is only logical to imagine Jon Bon Jovi singing these songs in rock anthem form.

You forgot about the incredible lyric sung by the paparazzi where they say photographing celebrities is "Better than a Guinness / Better than a wank". SNL really outdid themselves with this musical sketch.

I do really genuinely appreciate how fair and empathetic your takes are, but in terms of the raw material- lyrics, composition, scripting and dialogue- I honestly can't agree that it was an enjoyable show. The music sounded like half-listening to a classic rock radio station while you space out waiting at an auto repair shop. It so desperately wanted to be Evita by way of Chess with a sprinkling of Hamilton, but I never had a single second to give even the slightest hint of a shit about any of the characters. And for a premise as exploitative as this, I feel the ridicule of the lyrics and music are justified- any human being who's ever lived deserves better, and Diana certainly does too. In a way, I don't even think it would be saved by leaning into the 'camp' aspect as some have argued. Sure, it would have made for a better viewing experience- but what gives these men the right to use an abused woman as fodder for hysterical antics and over-the-top theatrics? Though all of this, of course, does NOT excuse the disgusting way some folks have treated the cast, or used this as a chance to declare the downfall of musicals as an artform. One of the downsides of critique as entertainment is that more extreme critique is more entertaining. The way they talk about some of the actors is downright disrespectful. As always though, I really admire how well researched and thought out your videos are, and I'm interested that the in-person experience can have such a different impact.

That choreography: ugh. The bobbing up and down is something I've seen iguanas do. Also, the lyrics _are_ pretty much shit, both mechanically and dramaturgically. Did you notice that when Diana sings about herself, it's never in 1st person? That way, any "I Want" or "I Am" songs become "You Want/She Wants" or "You Are/She Is" songs, and it's impossible to warm up to such a detached character or root for her. In fact, I found myself much more sympathetic to Charles by the end, because he had to put up with this rather dull third wheel in his relationship with Camilla, foisted upon him by his family. It makes me wonder how _Memphis_ won any Tonys at all. Was there just no other competition that year?

“Mom, can we have Elisabeth?” “We have Elisabeth at home.” Elisabeth at home:

Once again, I have to wonder how many people said "Yeah, this is a great idea!" It's hard to believe this started in La Jolla. And I certainly feel for the cast & crew. They work their behinds off, regardless of the quality of the material. Also, I entirely agree with you on Pro Shots. There are a number of shows I've seen online or in a cinema that make me wish I'd been able to see them live. ☺️

Since you've covered Carrie the Musical, I think you'd be interested in covering the lost musical Raggedy Ann! There's actually people who worked on finding Carrie who are now working on it, and the lost media effort has manged to find full proshot footage from 1984 that they were told repeatedly does not exist. And yet, now it's on youtube. It went through quite the rocky production, with a creative team including Joe Raposo (Sesame St. composer) and William Gibson (of the Miracle Worker) who refused to see eye to eye on anything. At one point the show even went to Russia as part of a cultural exchange program, and got a much better reception there than on Broadway!

I watched the pro shot knowing it wasn't going to be something like Hamilton, but I enjoyed it. I sincerely believe that we need more pro shots to allow those who don't have access to broadway (either for geographical or financial reasons) but like broadway to experience broadway. People think that pro shots are bad for broadway but it allows more people to experience it. And it makes you want to see the shows live if you are able to because watching a pro shot and watching broadway live are two completely different experiences.

Welp, guess I'll watch the pro-shot now ha. I was going to skip it, but I love your fair and even-handed analysis and now I'm curious (also, generally, love your channel and so glad I found it). Though I spotted right away a glaring issue with the musical--confirming my gut suspicion that had already turned me off it. He used the Andrew Morton book as the inspiration! Given that book was Diana very purposefully punching the royals in the face and it is 100% only from her point of view? Also super dated and skips the last part of her life when she did seem to grow a lot and reflect... I can imagine the musical doesn't exactly reflect reality lol/of course it's tonally uneven. Sounds like they needed a proper dramaturge... they should have called someone from The Crown! (season 4 very clearly drew heavily from Tina Brown's Diana book, which I rather prefer--it's more even handed to both sides.)

I will pay for a ticket to the pro-shot of any musical because I can’t make it to New York and a pro-shot is the only chance I get at seeing a musical. So I hope that this doesn’t discourage future pro-shots of Broadway musicals.

I so appreciate how you always take the time to get some background on the behind the scenes, even the worst Trainwreck of musicals (which this isn't) deserves some appreciation for all the talented people involved in it trying their best Also your mention of Fun Home makes me want to ask, can we expect a video on that gem someday?👀 I would imagine the process of adapting a(n auto)biography where the storyteller is still alive and involved in the project into a musical would be very different from telling a public figure's story, plus the way they use the stage to its full capacity to reflect the state of mind of the characters is something I'd personally never seen done quite so well!

I *love* Diana The Musical....Probably not for the reasons they were going for, but it's gonna be a guilty pleasure of mine for the rest of my life.

We need to be more vocal about proshots helping the ticket office rather than hurting it. Proshots of concerts of big name bands don't hurt them, they help.

I honestly think you're being a bit generous with it. I agree with the points that you made-that it couldn't pick a tone and that it did too much "telling" instead of "showing-but those really were complete dealbreakers for me. In the moments where the absurd lyrics or unaccountable recontextualizations weren't grabbing my attention, the show completely lost my interest. There wasn't really any point at which I felt invested in the story or the characters. I could feel the cast doing a lot of work to prop up the show, and that's a real shame. I wish those talented people could've been working half as hard on a better show.

It workshopped at NYSAF back in 2017, and all I remember from that reading is "The Dress." I honestly may forget that this had a Broadway run.

the dream sequence scene seems like quite a ~choice~ considering that that photo of her asleep in her chair is not because she was just bored but because her life as princess of wales and pregnancy was just too exhausting and totally not what she deserved

I don't know what hurts more: Knowing that Diana: The Musical didn't go full camp like my heart wanted so bad or knowing that i can't dance as well as Prince Charles in that clip.

I feel so sorry for the cast being so excited to be on Netflix and then getting such hate.

I watched the musical in preparation for this musical, I’m American and know a little over the bare minimum of the story and it feels extremely offensive to Diana’s Legacy. Maybe that’s just me though.

Honestly, this pro-shot could benefit a lot from having an audience. A lot of lines that are incredibly cheesy feels weird because of the empty silence that follows it while I know that an live audience would have laughed. It's a small thing, but it would have probably helped with the tonal issues. Oh, and I could feel the spirit of Dave Malloy grabbing and shaking me by the shoulders saying that rhyming is stupid.

I would love to see a version of this that really leans into the camp and maybe even pulls some from the British Pantomime tradition. I also just want Pantos to because a thing in the states because I love them

I have to say i am extremely surprised by this review, bc this was NOT the experience I had when watching the pro-shot. I am the only theater person amongst my friends but we all love a good campy ironic movie (we had a great time with cats). And this was just not that. We didn't find it offensive or appalling or even bad it was just sooooo boring. Yes, every once in a while there is a completely atrocious rhyme, but you have to be paying close attention to catch it, and most of us just couldn't bare to look at the screen, we ended up talking over it or on our phones. Not to say its bad if people enjoy it ironically i just cant for the life of me see how it could hold someones attention for more than 20 mins. Also i might be the only person in the world who thought the costume design wasn't great? Like she didnt look classy wearing them like Diana did, she looked like she was drowning in the dresses. Even Camilla who we are supposed to dislike looked better and more poised.

A Poppin' Fresh musical is something I didn't know I needed

This review is better than a Guinness, better than a w nk

Wanna hear what I believe was underused? Barbara Cartland. Had they stuck to use her as a Che/Burr/Judas character at least they would have held on to something that worked in other musicals. Am I right?

I finally watched it today, and honestly a lot of the reactions from Twitter seem a little over the top. It's certainly not the best show, but there were a couple parts that really got me. Those parts being Charles yelling at Diana about her performance at the Royal Ballet Gala and that the best thing she ever did was marry him (it made me so angry and upset that I cried), when Diana visits the AIDS patients in the hospital, and the very end of the show.

The two creators were HARDLY “still growing up in the 90’s!” First Bonjovi album dropped in early 80’s!

I had the immense pleasure of working at both the Broadway run of Memphis and am currently working at Diana. To see the contrast between the creation of each and the reception to each has been so interesting and compelling. You absolutely. nailed this one.

Want to compliment you on your editing. You allow yourself to take a breath. So much of youtube is go go go and they edit out pauses. Thank you for not doing that.

'Indecisive' is a perfect summary for this travesty. It waddled around myriad storylines with no particular focus. That the music/lyrics and book didn't meld is of little surprise because they all seemed to be poling their own punts...

I watched it on Netflix and afterwards I was so untouched and confused I had to rewatch the entire production of 2002’ Elisabeth I found on RU-vid just to be able to sleep afterwards and not be too unsatisfied. My take away is. Stories on paper are very similar. Diana was VERY American in its approach of being super bright and chipper and not dark and sad enough. Wth all the song bled into each other and non of them emotionally impacted me. The actress just looked kind all the time. No other emotions aside from that. Her face didn’t move. I suspect the Hollywood standards and botox got to her. Compare that with Pia Douwes as Elisabeth in the absolutely amazingly anti-monarchist and gothic production that leaves you emotional for a week. Diana. Disappointing in its superficiality. Hence me saying it’s very American. Even the death scene was telling and not showing. And to have Charles, Queen and Camilla have the last words??? That was just insulting

The funny thing is it wasn’t awful as a proshot. The music is forgettable. The quick changes were awesome. The acting was decent. The fact that it was shot without an audience was super awkward. But was it the worst thing ever? Nah. I think it’s a “you had to be there” musical - not great. But fun with a real audience.

this channel is now my go to for musical news , docs and vlogs

I feel like the reason the Guardian hated it so much is because this musical is completely cringeworthy from a British perspective - imagine someone making a musical about, I don’t know, JFK’s assassination, and it’s really cheery and upbeat and campy? But also like trying to be earnest in an embarrassingly off the mark way. And also it portrays Americans in this weird stereotypical way. But also like only 20 years after it happened?? That’s what it like from our perspective. So weird.

Drunk aunt here. I loved it on Netflix but your review and insight softened the blow. It was well cast, acted, sung, danced and really moved along. Visually appealing as well. I’ve seen and walked out of way worse (the Randy Newman musical) . Old enough to have lived through the wedding and death of Diana and this bit of fluff musical hit an emotional cord.

That shot of Diana asleep at a concert was in the early stages of her pregnancy with William. Like many newly pregnant women, Diana slept a bit more and tired a bit more easily. Her pregnancy was announced just after that photo was published. Source: Charles and Diana, a biography about their early marriage.

bro these videos are fire!! imma bout to go down a rabbit hole

Thank you for this thoughtful and very balanced review. I particularly like your thoughts on proshots. For us in the Midwest, getting to NYC or some of the bigger theatres isn’t easy. The price alone for tickets is incredibly steep. People forget that and there are so many passionate fans that want to see a show and can’t any other way. I truly hope they continue or that the industry really tries to change how to make it more accessible for more people.

i'm so glad i watched this video! i've only been watching musicals regularly for a few years, so i hardly consider myself worth having an opinion about it. but when i watched diana the musical, i thought "well, that was...something." even when i first heard of the musical i was skeptical. this video was a great explanation that i couldn't have articlated about why it was weird. the best i had was that the songs and story didn't seem like they fit together. also no please i hope it's not the end of pro shots! it's so very true that seeing a proshot can often make a perosn want to see the show in person when otherwise they wouldn't. I wouldn't have seen a fraction of the art i've seen if not for proshots (and some youtube 'slime tutorials'). the accessibility proshots provide is so so so important if broadway wants people to continue being interested in (and experiencing) what it has to offer.

I only discovered your channel recently - really loving your well-researched insights and entertaining style. Glad to hear they have made some positive changes to the Broadway production of Diana. I never want to see any musical fail. Wouldn't it be a hoot if they turned this thing round and it became a sleeper hit? Unlikely . . . but here's hoping.

I think I might be able to see this next weekend, right before it closes. I’m pumped.

It would have conveyed the dream sequence and the photo inspiration behind it if the costume had matched her dress in said photo . That photo is well known enough and it seems like it would have made the total tonal shift between the 2 songs make more sense like oh the doubts, concerns and fears both women have about their relationship.

Okay totally new viewer, caught your video on Carrie and then saw this. I am not musically or theatrically inclined. I love both but have zero sophistication or education that's relevant. So I didnt know this was a thing but immediately watched it after your video. First of all your video, while informative, didn't spoil anything. So that's awesome. Also, as a layman...I loved it. I loved the switching of emotions from humor to empathy and excitement to a profound feeling of womanhood. But also...I'm gonna read her book now haha. I was a teen when she died so American media was what it was, I do know my mom cried. But I will just say, good job and thank you for bringing shows like this to light for us who enjoy musical theater good or bad.

Oh please don't tempt me to write a Pop'n Fresh musical.

i love this new form of videos that youre making!!

Great stuff. I don't want to be that typical Brit who corrects someone over the pond. But the butler is Paul Burr-ul

I suffered through the pro shot. I must say the last act song by the queen about the more normal life she had as an “officer’s wife “ was the best part and Camilla stole the show

The missed opportunity? Showing it all as a series of tableaux narrated and framed by Barbara Cartland. The opening of act two was so bonkers (your word) that I wanted them to lean into ALL of that. If it's a love story? Let the romance author tell it!!

The surprise of Bruce Dow’s face popping up was not one I was expecting, but appreciate! I did master classes with Bruce for years in high school, he is the kindest man and really loves the craft and wrote me a glowing letter of recommendation for university. He’s a Canadian Stratford festival legend. He was also in JCS on Broadway, if you can find any clips do yourself a favour and watch!

Saw the Pro-shot; imo, I think they tried to harbor on the “80s West End Musical” aspect way too hard with this kind of source material. Not saying that you can’t make a serious musical based in pop music and 80s theatre tropes, but the lyrics were rather lacking true meaning and it seemed like the music and lyrics both were trying really hard to be pop songs rather than looking to reflect the characters, their emotions, and their mindsets within pop specific elements. Great pop songs do the latter, even with repetitive choruses… thats why everyone loves Ariana Grande (for example, POV) or the Beatles (Because) or Beyonce (Hold Up) or Adele (Hello). It has a deeper meaning than just a trying to be a catchy lyric and have repetitiveness for repetitiveness sake. Another issue imo is that there’s no breathing space/the show has bad pacing after certain scenes lol Everything happens abruptly right after the other as they try to cover everything that has happened within Diana’s life. However, ironically, with everything going from one plot to another, they make the main conflict of Diana’s existence about Charles and everything she does is in relation to/because of him… when irl it was also about her feeling insecure and out of place at the Palace and in higher echelon society, with the way the Press and regular society was with/viewed her, Daddy Issues, etc. That’s kind of insulting imo to make her every moment be about that man haha but back to the lack of space/pacing in the show, I wish they didnt go the Rock Opera (with scenes cut in between) route or if they did, cut some songs, blend some songs, shorten it up a bit. There are no beats for the audience (or casts imo) to really grapple with the weight that’s happening in the show. To not only really connect with the character, Diana, on stage but also the real Diana… to reflect on her memory; spark some inspiration to keep her legacy of spreading good and truth alive and out there. And because of that, I think it just lacks direction and tone; again, I’m not saying it has be 100% melodramatic and tragic, but at least give us SPACE/EMOTIONAL BEATS before going straight to the next number. It seems like they wanted this to be the new amalgamation of Six, Evita, and Next To Normal, but even all those shows, including the Rock Opera, Evita, has great dead space for emotional beats, even within the musical numbers themselves, AND ESPECIALLY at the end. The ending of this musical saddens me because it really could’ve ended on a high note but they throw in a epilogue statement from Charles, of all people (why not her Sister?? Why Charles??), and then add one more song to send off their audience… it threw me off guard tbh, and instead of ending in silence with the flashing lights to really encapsulate on her memory and death, they decide to really milk the drama and themes for all its worth… why not throw that statement/thematic element from Charles around throughout the story, instead of at the end, because that was Diana irl! … Why do all of that when your main character is dead and leave us with three characters who are extremely dislikable?? It gives the wrong perception to your audience to see Charles, Camilla, and The Queen as people who cared about her legacy lol and it also gives a clear misconception to the audience that the show is over when she walks off stage lmaoo 💀 however, Im glad they removed that song and the quote at the end in the live version haha Another issue I have too is with the songs and THEIR pacing. I THOUGHT Act 1 was over at The Wedding/I Will or when Diana broke the Glass Mirror but no it wasnt 😭😂 Blame Covid or the fact that the show cant even decide what its going to be (since there are short scenes here and there) but I didn’t realize that this was sort of a Rock Opera until that point and when the first act actually ended. And honestly? Some of the songs didnt even need to happen. Like for instance: the two fashion dress songs that encapsulate on the same character motive/emotion/theme, or the song that Charles and Camilla sing, or the opening of Act 2 …. not to mention some of these songs go on for too long (*cough* like Him And Her) (because of it wanting to be like Pop-specific Music) and I reiterate again, if you’re going to do that (with acting at its core) there has to be a reason why they repeat certain lines and choruses because audience members (and sometimes actors) are going to have a hard time understanding a character’s motivations and feelings when its one noted with the same (directed) intention. With all of that said, I think this would’ve been better as a standard musical with scenes in between songs (OR if you want to go the Rock Opera route, take out all the scenes you have and make everything sung!) because some of these songs seem like filler and don’t really move the plot nor character motivation nor showcase the inner emotions forward in a play that is about real life complexity, power dynamics, fragility, selfishness, and drama. Like the opening of Act 2 couldve been Diana singing the reprise of the first number but this time melancholy and reflecting on her strained marriage and strained place with society and the royal family and thus seeing James as a means of toxically and unhealthily substituting/coping. But no, we get a song about how sexy he is lol Imagine if we had some dramatic character scenes with Charles and Diana arguing and/or Camilla and the Queen spying in on the couple! Idk lol everything just feels way too campy even for musical theatre 💀 It feels as if this is a show that someone who dislikes musical theatre would create or it would be a fake musical in a Netflix Comedy or in a musical comedy 😂 again, I feel like they’re trying to be Six, Evita, and Next to Normal all in one. I think those were my only issues with the show... Just the music, lyrics, the show’s teeter-tottering identity, and the way the entire show was written and paced. I know the creative team is doing/ did their best and honestly, not every song nor scene is terrible/horrible imo; like there are some great dramatic ones from Diana and Charles, respectively, and the James Hewitt opener is fun, but it all falls short in relation to a life that is and was highly conflicted and complex like all of our lives. The acting was great from everyone involved and Jeanna deserves a Tony for this imo. She carries the entire show and though I don’t necessarily agree with the way they wrote her motivations, I do admire and praise how well Jeanna utilizes what she’s been given and creates complexity and a thrilling character drama out of the one-noted “every action, good or bad, I take is in relation of Charles,” objective(s). Also… why did the Paparazzi issue not pop up anymore?? It appeared early but the reason the Paps didn’t “like” her, from what I remember, was because (1) she hated photos and (2) the kindergarten teacher photo, where her legs were seen, had everyone hounding her for it - correct me if I’m wrong though. Besides, the paparazzi and the press were another contributing factor to her mental health and they just… glossed over it with one song in Act 1. Why didn’t they write for them to come back during the failing of their marriage to torture her more, or bring them back post-divorce of post-aids photo, even if it was to “praise” her being the world’s newly appointed starlight?

RU-vid is so much better than old school TV. You can just stumble across random channels with random people who nerd out about completely random topics and learn so much about a particular thing that you didn't even care about that it makes you intrigued to know more.

This really was two warring ideas trying to share the same space... 1) A historical drama about a woman who joins the most powerful family in the world and is thrust into a completely new way of life. Learning to navigate complicated relationships and extreme pressures as an outsider and free thinker. OR 2) A pop culture story inspired by the public's obsession with tabloid drama and the high camp of famous people having messy personal lives. Each of these shows on their own might have been successful, but they can't both exist together like this.

"Diana The Musical" instantly sounded like a Saturday Night Live skit to me...

Glad to say that the first video released on the channel since i subbed Id seen the spiderman video a year and a half ago buthad forgotten the channel til i saw the video again a few days back Im not a musical person really, but this quickly became one of my favorite channels

I LOVED this musical and saw it 6x on Broadway. Much better live than on Netflix. That's so interesting what you say about "this is how the people dance" I had no idea it was a dream sequence.

Oh hey my diana t-shirt just came in the mail and I'm back to say I would die for this cast

I couldn't even get through the cast album...such a letdown after the great music David Bryan and Joe DiPietro gave us with MEMPHIS

bruce seems so nice he has so much energy i love it

One thing I will say in defence of Diana the musical is that it gives her agency. She's not just some tragic figure at the mercy of the powerful royals as so many other retellings of her life have painted her.

Hi Wait in the Wings! I am a new follower and I have binged every video you made. This is exactly what I needed. I would love if you could do a video on Love Never Dies, the sequel to my favorite Phantom of the Opera!

Tacky, in poor taste and entirely unasked for, but STILL somehow less exploitative than whatever the fuck is going on with Dear Evan Hansen, 10/10

Is it bc I'm a 43 year old lady and grew up with her as a real live princess, that I secretly kinda lived for it? I mean to me it was fun. It really was. Not for like 200 a ticket but for netflix it was fun.

Good review. Very diplomatic and analytical!

As a person without access to Broadway, pro shots are the only reason I know of certain shows. I hope they never go away.