Diana: The Musical, which played a brief run at Broadway's Longacre Theatre in fall 2021, makes its London premiere in a concert staging December 4 at the Eventim Apollo.
Owen Horsley directs a company led by Kerry Ellis and Maiya Quansah-Breed as the late Princess of Wales with Denise Welch as The Queen.
The one-night-only event also features Alice Fearn (Come From Away) as Camilla Parker Bowles, Andy Coxon (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) as Prince Charles, Jay Perry (Back to the Future) as James Hewitt, and Aleyna Mohanraj (Annie Get Your Gun) as Sarah Spencer. The production also has an ensemble cast of students from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.
With a revised book by David Bryan and Joe DiPietro, the musical is set in 1996 as Diana has divorced the heir to the throne. This new concert version, which hands the microphone to Diana as she reflects on her past, is told in two parts, narrated by Diana (Ellis) as she looks back at the 19-year-old Diana (Quansah-Breed) that captured the nation.
The version that premiered on Broadway in 2021 was a more linear telling of Diana's life, with one actor (Jeanna de Waal) playing the princess.
The musical supervisor of the concert is Adam Hoskins.
Diana began previews on Broadway March 2, 2020, and resumed preview performances November 2, 2021, following the pandemic shutdown. It officially opened November 17, subsequently closing December 19, 2021, after 16 previews and 33 regular performances. A film capture of the bio-musical was recorded during the hiatus and premiered on Netflix.
Diana: The Musical is produced by Lambert Jackson and Cuffe & Taylor.
Click here for ticket information.
Look back at the Broadway production below:
