HIGH SPIRITS, HIGH COMEDY, EVEN HIGHER HEELS
Elton John, who jumped on the concept of writing the music, calls the 2006 movie a favorite; many people nod in blissful settlement. Based on a semi- autobiographical novel by Lauren Weisberger about her time at Vogue, the fashionable fairytale tells how an bold good-hearted younger lady will get sucked into the glamorous however cruelly demanding world of an ice-queen boss (assume Anna Wintour, exaggerated for impact within the masterly arms of Meryl Streep). She dangers her non-public life and ethical instincts, however finds her true nature ultimately. It turned comfort-viewing: wonderful garments , witty put-downs, and – not least – a darker echo of the best way that ladies’s profitable and hyper-demanding jobs screw up their relationships, particularly with sensitive males. And it doesn’t must be vogue that does it: ask any younger lawyer or banker.
But I did wonder if it wanted to be a musical, even within the arms of director-choreographer Jerry Mitchell, who has been making movies into hits for years (Legally Blonde! Kinky Boots!) . Book is by Kate Wetherhead – artfully holding all the perfect Streepy sneers (“Florals for spring? Groundbreaking”) and her well-known two-note dismissive “that’s all” . And reward heaven, not musicalizing that super speech about cerulean blue, or the magnificent second when Nigel lectures Andrea about her snobbish “disdain” for the actual artwork of excessive vogue.
The lyrics Elton labored on are by Shaina Taub and Mark Sonnenblick: they’re sharp, correctly scanned, typically as witty because the movie itself. One track, Nigel’s passionate “Seen!” a couple of younger homosexual man discovering the style world, is stellar: discovering as a young person the a part of him “never seen yet, found in a Yves St-Laurent silhouette..” . Another opens up the difficulties of Andrea’s boyfriend “I miss the girl who used to use a 2 in 1 shampoo..I miss the old you!”. Mitchell’s choreography is fabulously witty, too: the fashionista “clackers” falling continuously into these inconceivable mannequin poses. Gregg Barnes offers wild costumes (and good dowdy ones earlier than Andrea succumbs – oh that shirt hanging out below the jumper!) . The units just do sufficient work and never an excessive amount of.
So all good then: it’s a gig, a blast, a apectacular evening out . Vanessa Williams is a superb Miranda (Streeping-it-up a bit an excessive amount of at first, however who wouldn’t? she does the later susceptible scenes fantastically). Georgie Buckland on a West End debut is sensational as Andy, Matt Henry a touchingly likeable Nigel and a beautiful voice. And as for Amy di Bartolomeo within the Emily Blunt position because the senior assistant overtaken by Andrea, phrases fail me. At first she just about shadows the movie character, however with the music provides an actual loopy vulnerability of her personal. Mitchell picks up on the truth that we’ve got fallen for her (maybe greater than for Andrea, a little bit of a prig)“; he adds and choreographs a fabulous “hot nurse” sequence after her damaged leg accident, with lads in scrubs doing the total chorus-boy round her. Then there’s a fully new second within the second half the place Emily’s future turns into much more wonderful than her rival’s. No spoilers however hey, Gaultier…
So as soon as the second half acquired effectively below method with a large glittering Eiffel Tower, I mentioned to myself yeah, OK, if we should do that silly star-rating factor, it’s a 5. And sure, it was value making a musical of the movie: value one other dose of the shiny , fabulous and curiously sensible nonsense of it. That’s all.
devilwearspradamusical.com to 31 May 2025
score 5
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