Theatrical retrospectives of famous people can be a tricky business. Their subjects are sometimes so well known that much of the public can feel they already possess an intimate knowledge of their lives. That reality presents a significant challenge. How will this work about offer new insights that either expand or deepen our understanding of the individual? There’s also a need to achieve a finely tuned balance. One that ensures speculation doesn’t undermine or obscure fact. Too much of the first can cripple credibility. Those and similar concerns remained in a constant swirl while watching Theo Ubique’s gutsy production of Diana, a musical based on the former Princess of Wales now playing at its Howard St. location.
During the months leading up to her marriage to the current King of England, through the entirety of its 15-year melodramatic duration and up until to her tragic death in 1997 at 36, Diana Princess of Wales was one of the most photographed and publicized people in the world. Newspapers, magazines, tabloids and broadcast conglomerates across the globe clamored for her image and information about her life. This somewhat daring look back at that life with book by Joe DiPietro, music by David Bryan and lyrics co-developed by both, ultimately pays tribute to Diana’s will to carve out her own identity within the United Kingdom’s dynastic machine. It also recognizes her drive to make her own unique and indelible mark on the world after divorcing her husband. A second tragedy resulting from the car crash in that Paris tunnel is that her opportunity to do so was forever stymied. Diana therefore becomes a heady rehash of the known with more than a small amount of speculative conjecture included to add nuance to the key figures involved.
An issue regarding tone or representation arose almost immediately in the production. Diana, played quite winningly by Kate McQuillan, is portrayed as a naïve 19-year-old kindergarten teacher completely out of her element in aristocratic settings. In truth, regardless of her youth, Diana Spencer also enjoyed a privileged and exclusive upbringing. When her father inherited his Earldom in 1975, she received the title, Lady Diana Spencer at 14. The upper echelon of British society was a part of her heritage. Although she may have been young and reticent, she was not completely ignorant of the rituals and protocols afforded royalty. That contradiction made the opening song Underestimated unexpected and surprising.
Similar modifications of the known or understood become common enough to seem routine. Charles as played by Jack Saunders is the heir to the throne we’re familiar with but here he’s portrayed as slightly more callous and, at times, consciously ruthless. Colette Todd as Charles’ longtime paramour Camilla Parker Bowles is orchestrator-in-chief, manipulating people and circumstances to accommodate appearances and obscure her power over Charles. Confident in her lover’s complete devotion to her, Camilla’s is one of the strongest voices promoting Diana as the ideal marital match for Prince Charles. And Jacqueline Grandt in her role as Queen Elizabeth II may be more icy than you’d imagine, but she’s also the kind of driven pragmatist who brings an impressive gravity to Diana, giving the entire effort appealing substance and heft.
Beginning with Diana’s awkward courtship with Charles, the musical goes on to profile the fragility of their marriage, revisits her explosive popularity with the British people, shows how little baring two sons has in cementing their union and underscores how valiantly she later sought to claim her own autonomy. It also does a fine job of making you feel the pressure of being constantly pursued by men wielding cameras. The music and lyrics supporting the show chronicle the emotional cost tied to each of these episodes and progressions in Princess Diana’s life. What makes them memorable is how powerfully and effectively they’re delivered by the play’s crackerjack cast and three-man band.
Co-directed by the late Fred Anzevino and Brenda Didier, Diana’s energy and conviction are the things that give it life and make it gratifying entertainment.
Theo has a knack for magically transforming its space into the ideal stage for profiling its latest production and Diana is no exception. Flexible, utilitarian and tiered, Manuel Ortitz’s scenic design works as a fluid canvas on which to overlay Diana’s story. By the opening of the second act, when the hopelessness of Diana’s marriage to Charles is most glaring, you’ve acclimated to the idiosyncrasies of each character and have come to respect and admire the considerable performing skills of those portraying them. McQuillan, Saunders, Todd and Grandt all possess splendid voices and they fill them with the kind of passion and commitment that reach our cores. Armored with the kind of artistry that makes a performance soar, the seven-member supporting cast turn Diana into an irresistible burst of positive possibility. And although rousing numbers as heard in She Moves in the Most Modern Ways and The Dress stir the blood, it’s the softer pieces like I Miss You Most on Sundays and If that are most lasting and induce the kind of reflection that honors the legacy of a transformative individual.
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Extended to July 13, 2025
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