This Musical Struts Down The Runway
Emily (Amy Di Bartolomeo)swaggers to the centre of the stage like a true catwalk model and orders the audience to photograph her before turning their phones off. We do. She saunters away and the next great entrance to die for is when Miranda Priestly (Vanessa Williams)rises up from nowhere and merely vogues and stares. That’s all. The Devil who Wears Prada has arrived for work and we know it, writes Michael Holland.
Haute Couture fashion magazine Runway is in the process of finding an assistant for Miranda and they have run out of potential applicants. Except one. Andy – or Andrea (Georgie Buckland) is a nerdy wannabe journalist who is as far removed from top fashion as could be possible. As she waits to be seen the staff members mock her woollen tights, loafer shoes, frumpy skirt and jumper. But she needs to prove herself as competent so sticks around to be bitchily abused by Emily and Miranda and Nigel(Matt Henry), the artistic director. She gets the job and the scene is set for her to sell her soul to the Devil, forsaking loved ones in the deal but ultimately redeeming herself. It’s not a new tale but it is told at an exciting, fast-moving pace that follows the agenda of a top publication that needs to make tough decisions to stay ahead.
With the book by Kate Wetherhead, lyrics by Shane Taub and Mark Sonnenblick, and music by Elton John this production has a lot going for it. The tunes throb with electronica at the beginning as the dancers bounced around, which did a lot to accompany the tiaras and tantrums of life at the top of the industry, so we are soon drawn into the contrast between Andy’s home life and relationship with Nate, and the problematic workload and stress of the job, but the music did sink a little at times.
One of the best tunes was Dress Your Way Up when Nigel advised Andy in how to get on in this business, and the big number is, obviously, The Devil Wears Prada, where we are blasted with a wall of choral sound as the whole entourage step their way into Paris Fashion Week. Delicious.
Notwithstanding any little musical slumps, the dancing was fantastic at keeping us keen and on the fashion runway – a big plus for choreographer and director Jerry Mitchell – and the characters ricocheted off, and jelled with, each other in their different ways.
The set looks good and evoked gasps when a twinkling Eiffel Tower greeted us at Paris Fashion Week.
Miranda had the best lines but Emily was not so far behind. And Andy slowly transitions from dowdy geek to much-wanted beauty right before our eyes. What we did not see enough of was the conflict she has with herself. There was very little soul-searching where she questions the person she had become; she seemingly just gave it all up and returned to her old life.
But these are minor distractions in what is a full-on, high-energy show where the aisles become catwalks, and Melissa, the fan next to me who has seen the film 15 times, says this is possibly better than the movie. Praise indeed from this Prada Princess.
The Devil Wears Prada is an extravagant strut through the mid-Noughties and should be seen to be believed.
Dominion Theatre, Tottenham Court Road, until 18th October 2025. Times: Mon – Sat 7.30pm; Wed & Sat 2.30pm. Admission: £47.50 – £250.
Booking: https://ticketing.nederlander.co.uk/tickets/series/TheDevilWearsPrada/
