Diana In Concert - Eventim Apollo

So they cut the death dialogue at the end - DIANA LIVES!

Why am I constantly surprised by how terrible these things are. At least this one was funny, basically an enormous accidental panto. If the royal family want to do some more research on public opinion about them, hopefully someone will send them a bootleg of the audience reaction every time one of their fictional counterparts walked on stage!

Sounds like they’ve placed this production perfectly - plenty of laughter, ridiculousness and being “in on the joke”. My comments on the previous page based on the Broadway proshot version seem to line up with the consensus here. I sort of wish I had gone tonight - I love a good, crap night out at the theatre.

I bet this was glorious in its terribleness.

If they nailed the tone, the sh*t tech ruined it. The theatre gods giveth and they taketh away.

Which, along with the high prices, is the reason I didn’t go. I’ve been burned so many times before with these concerts, the sound/tech/under-rehearsal issues ruin my enjoyment.

Did they do the ****ity ****ity **** song?

This was a flawed but entertaining evening of joyful camp fun.

Some spoilers follow. . .

I had seen 4 other works by Joe DiPietro, though not this one, so I thought I'd give this a go in concert form, in case its my only chance.

What worked best tonight were the things that played to the grandness of the Hammersmith Apollo space, namely things that were clear, loud, spirited and camp:

(1) Kerry Ellis as Princess Diana, having the rockiest voice, sometimes sounding like Sandy from Grease, with the ensemble dancing around her, sometimes sounding like Sheena Easton belting out a Bond Theme. Obviously, the whole point of the show is to root for the underdog, Diana, so the more Ellis's rock voice could powerfully cut through everything else, the more fun the 3500 odd people could share in her triumphs lol;

(2) Denise Welch, as the Queen, is not the most obvious choice to play the Queen, not known for the Queen's tight-lipped decorum, nor her cut glass received pronunciation, but what they do have in common is a reputation for persevering through hardship, and that's really all the connection you need, because once you connect with her, all the differences - the impressively calm posturing of Welch in her pristine wig for decorum and dignity, her effortfully feigned accent, the pursed lips, the elongated vowels, the slightly pitchy vocal, its all just wonderfully camply amusing and celebratory;

(3) The ensemble singing together chorally made the most splendidly sonorous, full, and uplifting sounds, bringing a lot of joy to me.

There were things that didn't work too well, because the space was too big (this would all work much better in the Southwark Playhouse lol), the sound was too poor (80 percent audible from the middle of the Stalls), the mics weren't always on, the spotlights sometimes weren't lit.

Anything subtle in the book was undoubtedly lost in the cavernous space. For example, since the doubling of Diana is in essence a play for subtlety, an attempt at Follies style resonance, whereby the older Diana witnesses and empathises with her younger self, this was all lost and diluted rather than strengthened Ellis's rock dominance. Quansah Breed did well with what she had to do, but for me, the whole concept was way too subtle for such a giant venue, which really just needed Ellis to belt and belt and belt some more in the face of the villains.

Coxon and Fearns were good as the villains, but the space demanded they be bigger and louder and meaner than they were directed.

All in all, I had a great camp time. I wished it was even bigger and camper than it was.

3 and a half stars from me.

Yes!!

No Barbra Cartland though. Or the immortal line 'Harry, my ginger haired son' (unless it was one of the 3000 times the mic wasn't turned up)

What must she think

Technical issues aside (which were diabolical and everyone should write and complain - people sang basically whole songs in the dark) - this was one of the most fun nights I've ever had in a theatre.

Diana is a camp classic, and god was it fun to get to see it performed live in a room full of people who agreed!!

One person's (an American) view of the concert

One Tik Tok Poster Thoughts

I forgot something last night but I'm very curious about a cut made to the final song. She sang

"I'll have another child
An answer to my prayer
Perhaps a baby girl
Or, better yet, a pair"

But then they cut the rest of it -


"If Charles steps aside
And lets my William reign
Then all this suffering
Will not have been in vain
My future's my design
My story finally mine
As I light the world
I'll light the world"

I think I would have enjoyed it, but also been pissed off at the cuts to the libretto and the poor tech standard.