HIGH SPIRITS, HIGH COMEDY, EVEN HIGHER HEELS
Elton John, who jumped at the idea of writing the music, calls the 2006 film a favourite; many of us nod in blissful agreement. Based on a semi- autobiographical novel by Lauren Weisberger about her time at Vogue, the modern fairytale tells how an ambitious good-hearted young woman gets sucked into the glamorous but cruelly demanding world of an ice-queen boss (think Anna Wintour, exaggerated for effect in the masterly hands of Meryl Streep). She risks her private life and moral instincts, but finds her true nature in the end. It became comfort-viewing: glorious clothes , witty put-downs, and – not least – a darker echo of the way that women’s lucrative and hyper-demanding jobs screw up their relationships, especially with touchy men. And it doesn’t need to be fashion that does it: ask any young lawyer or banker.
But I did wonder whether it needed to be a musical, even in the hands of director-choreographer Jerry Mitchell, who has been making films into hits for years (Legally Blonde! Kinky Boots!) . Book is by Kate Wetherhead – artfully keeping all the best Streepy sneers (“Florals for spring? Groundbreaking”) and her famous two-note dismissive “that’s all” . And praise heaven, not musicalizing that tremendous speech about cerulean blue, or the magnificent moment when Nigel lectures Andrea about her snobbish “disdain” for the real art of high fashion.
The lyrics Elton worked on are by Shaina Taub and Mark Sonnenblick: they’re sharp, properly scanned, often as witty as the film itself. One song, Nigel’s passionate “Seen!” about a young gay man finding the fashion world, is stellar: discovering as a teenager the 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 constantly into those improbable model poses. Gregg Barnes provides wild costumes (and brilliant dowdy ones before Andrea succumbs – oh that shirt hanging out under the jumper!) . The sets do just enough work and not too much.
So all good then: it’s a gig, a blast, a apectacular night out . Vanessa Williams is a fine Miranda (Streeping-it-up a bit too much at the start, but who wouldn’t? she does the later vulnerable scenes superbly). Georgie Buckland on a West End debut is sensational as Andy, Matt Henry a touchingly likeable Nigel and a gorgeous voice. And as for Amy di Bartolomeo in the Emily Blunt role as the senior assistant overtaken by Andrea, words fail me. At first she pretty much shadows the film character, but with the music adds a real crazy vulnerability of her own. Mitchell picks up on the fact that we have fallen for her (perhaps more than for Andrea, a bit of a prig)“; he adds and choreographs a fabulous “hot nurse” sequence after her broken leg accident, with lads in scrubs doing the full chorus-boy around her. Then there is a completely new moment in the second half where Emily’s future becomes even more glorious than her rival’s. No spoilers but hey, Gaultier…
So once the second half got well under way with a giant glittering Eiffel Tower, I said to myself yeah, OK, if we must do this stupid star-rating thing, it’s a five. And yes, it was worth making a musical of the film: worth another dose of the shiny , fabulous and curiously wise nonsense of it. That’s all.
devilwearspradamusical.com to 31 May 2025
rating 5
theatreCat 