THE GREAT WHITE WAY

A Princess Diana Wedding Musical Is Coming Soon

Here’s everything we know.


Diana At Highgrove
Tim Graham

The Broadway industrial complex will leave no source of potential source material untapped, so it’s almost surprising that it took this long for a major Princess Diana musical to be in the works. Yes, everyone’s favorite royal is finally getting the song and dance treatment, and the project has a bevy of Tony-winning talent behind it.

Titled simply Diana, the musical will not be a life-spanning work, but rather will focus on a very specific and monumental time in her life: her wedding to Prince Charles and the timeline immediately following. Yes, Camilla Parker Bowles is very much a main character.

“Following her fairytale union, Princess Diana faces a distant husband, an unmovable monarchy and constant media scrutiny,” writes Broadway.com. “But her unabashed honesty, modern perspective and gentle compassion galvanizes a nation, even as it threatens the royal family’s hold on England.”

The score will feature a blend of “classical melodies” along with “1980s-inspired pop and rock music,” which sounds just about right for a tale of a modern young woman joining a centuries-old stuffy institution like the British monarchy.

The music and book for the musical will come from David Bryan and Joe DiPietro, the team behind Memphis, which won the Tony for best musical in 2009. You might also know Bryan as the keyboardist and occasional songwriter from Bon Jovi. Christopher Ashley, who just won a directing Tony this year for Come From Away, will helm the project. No casting has been announced as yet.

The fact that Diana’s story is being given the musical treatment however may not be a big surprise. Musical producers have been as hungry as ever for turning well known stories, material, films and life stories into potential Broadway hits. Movies like Mean Girls, Frozen, Death Becomes Her, 13 Going on 30, Pretty Woman, 17 Again, Beetlejuice, The Devil Wears Prada, Moulin Rouge, Magic Mike, The Preacher’s Wife, and Roman Holiday are all in various stages of being turned into stage shows. Meanwhile, bio-musicals of Cher, Donna Summer, Britney Spears, Jimmy Buffett, The Temptations, Judy Garland, Josephine Baker, Don Cornelius and Pat Benatar are likewise in the works, and neither of those are complete lists.

So it’s almost shocking that there wasn’t a Diana musical already. And that’s why DiPietro decided to make it in the first place.

“I thought it was a great idea for a musical, I asked around to see if anyone was doing it – no one was – so David and I just jumped into it,” he told the London Theatre’s website.

“It’s very much about marriage,” he added. “The four main characters are her, Charles, Camilla and the Queen, it’s not about anything else.”

The musical is set to premiere sometime during the 2018-2019 season of the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego. That’s no small matter, as the theater has a reputation for paving the way for its productions to head to Broadway. Jersey Boys, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Tommy, and several other Broadway hits originally premiered at the theater.

Related: Rihanna Takes Inspiration From Princess Diana When She Wants to Send Her Exes a Message

Revisit Princess Diana’s Best Style Moments on What Would Have Been Her 58th Birthday

Princess Diana outside her flat in Coleherne Court, London, December 1980. Photo by Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images.

Princess Diana Archive

Princess Diana in a dress by Cojana with Prince Charles in the gardens of Buckingham Palace on the day they announced their engagement, February 1981. Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images.

Tim Graham

Princess Diana with Prince Charles at Craigowan Lodge on the Balmoral Estate, May 1981. Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images.

Tim Graham

Princess Diana at a polo match in Windsor after the Ascot races, June 1981. Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images.

Tim Graham

A pregnant Princess Diana during a trip to the Isles of Scilly, April 1982. Photo by Kypros/Getty Images.

Kypros

Princess Diana wearing the colors of Canada during a state visit to Edmonton, Alberta, June 1983. Photo by Bettmann/Getty Images.

Bettmann

Princess Diana in a Smith’s Lawn sweater with Prince Charles at a polo meeting at Windsor, June 1983. Photo by Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images.

Princess Diana Archive

Princess Diana at the Melbourne airport, October 1985. Photo by Jayne Fincher/Getty Images.

Princess Diana Archive

Princess Diana on holiday in the south of France, 1985. Photo by Anwar Hussein/WireImage.

Anwar Hussein

Princess Diana in a Bruce Oldfield dress during a visit to Venice, May 1985. Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images.

Tim Graham

Princess Diana outside Highgrove with her son Harry, July 1986. Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images.

Tim Graham

Princess Diana on holiday in Majorca, Spain, August 1987. Photo by Georges De Keerle/Getty Images.

Georges De Keerle

Princess Diana at a Berlin Opera House gala performance in a gown by Catherine Walker, November 1987. Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images.

Tim Graham

Princess Diana and Prince Charles at the Munich Opera House, November 1987. Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images.

Tim Graham

Princess Diana at a state reception in Melbourne, October 1988. Photo by Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images.

Princess Diana Archive

Princess Diana in a Catherine Walker gown at a dinner at the British Embassy in Paris during her official visit to France, November 1988. Photo by Georges De Keerle/Getty Images.

Georges De Keerle

Princess Diana in a Catherine Walker suit and a Philip Somerville hat in Kuwait City, United Arab Emirates during her official tour of the Gulf States, March 1989. Photo by Georges De Keerle/Getty Images.

Georges De Keerle

Princess Diana at St. Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, London, March 1989. Photo by Georges De Keerle/Getty Images.

Georges De Keerle

Princess Diana in a dress by Catherine Walker at the London Coliseum for a performance of Swan Lake by the Bolshoi Ballet, July 1989. Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images.

Tim Graham

Princess Diana at Claridges for a state banquet, July 1989. Photo by Julian Parker/UK Press via Getty Images.

Julian Parker

Princess Diana with her sons William and Harry at Wetherby School on Harry’s first day, September 1989. Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images.

Tim Graham

Princess Diana in Budapest during her official visit to Hungary, May 1990. Photo by Georges De Keerle/Getty Images.

Georges De Keerle

Princess Diana and her son Harry at Windsor Chapel for the wedding of Lady Helen Windsor and art dealer Tim Taylor, July 1992. Photo by Jayne Fincher/Getty Images.

Princess Diana Archive

Princess Diana in a gown by Christina Stambolian at the Serpentine Gallery in London, June 1994. Photo by Jayne Fincher/Getty Images.

Princess Diana Archive

Princess Diana with her sons William and Harry on the day Harry joined Eton, September 1995. Photo by Anwar Hussein/WireImage.

Anwar Hussein

Princess Diana in a Virgin Atlantic sweatshirt at the Chelsea Harbour Club in London, November 1995. Photo by Anwar Hussein/WireImage.

Anwar Hussein

Princess Diana at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute dinner dance in Sydney, October 1996. Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images.

Tim Graham

Princess Diana at the Chelsea Harbour Health Club in London, May 1997. Photo by Antony Jones/UK Press via Getty Images.

Antony Jones

Princess Diana in a Jacques Azagury dress at the English National Ballet performance of Swan Lake at the Royal Albert Hall in London, June 1997. Photo by Anwar Hussein/Getty Images.

Anwar Hussein
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