A sequel to The Devil Wears Prada may be inching its way back to screens, as I wrote about here, but in the meantime a musical has made its way to the stage. An initial 2019 version was delayed several times due to the production needing more time and the pandemic, and following a poorly-reviewed 2022 Chicago run, returned to the rehearsal room to be further fine-tuned. After a short run in Plymouth, it has set up shop at the Dominion Theatre. Starring Vanessa Williams as Runway editor Miranda Priestley, and scored by Elton John (Rocketman) with lyrics by Shaina Taub (Suffs) and Mark Sonnerblick (Theater Camp), a huge amount of talent and time has gone into this production finally making it to the West End. So, was it worth it?

We follow the story of freshly-graduated Andy Sachs (a poised Georgie Buckland in her West End debut) as she lands a second assistant job at Vogue-proxy Runway magazine in the early 2000s. There, she meets first assistant Emily (Amy di Bartolomeo) and art director Nigel (Matt Henry), and the fearsome editor-in-chief, Miranda Priestley (Williams). I would guarantee that everyone in the (90% female) audience was already familiar with the plot though; there’s a reason there’s going to be a sequel to the original film, which itself was based on Lauren Weisberger’s extremely successful book. Nostalgia is big bucks at the moment, providing a promising tiny lifebelt of financial safety to new musicals.

We begin with a somewhat generic opener, ‘I Mean Business,’ in a cramped apartment set as Andy expresses her desire to make her mark in New York and laments her lack of success. In a blink however, she’s got an interview at Runway and her life is about to change. Any questions as to whether the musical would stray away from the Mean Girls playbook and not pepper in the film’s iconic lines are quickly answered. Many of the quotable lines are lifted verbatim, although there are well-placed additions by book writer Kate Wetherhead; ‘Two points to Gryffindor,’ from Nigel after Andy’s car-crash interview being my favourite. The sharp and talented ensemble welcome her to the magazine in the number ‘House of Miranda,’ their dancing made all the more impressive by the high fashionista heels worn by the women. The office set is quite minimal, which doesn’t come across quite as luxuriously bare as the film version. It’s a shame the show doesn’t take more advantage of its medium to convey the scale of the fear and activity generated by Miranda’s arrival, or once Andy starts work, the relentlessness of Miranda’s demands in-person and via phone as she treks around the city.

Williams is a more feisty and present Miranda than Streep’s original portrayal; she has to thanklessly put her own spin on the iconic lines, but her version is also snarkier and lacks the same degree of glacial remove that made the original so iconic. Meryl Streep has talked about taking inspiration for the character’s deliberately soft voice from Clint Eastwood, an excellent characterisation choice which has not made the jump from the screen. As a character, Stage Miranda is far closer to Williams’ previous role as Wilhelmina Slater, leaning more towards actively disdainful than haughtily removed; for example, when she expresses regret for hiring Andy, instead of saying ‘I said to myself; go ahead, take a chance, hire the smart, fat girl’ she instead refers to her as ‘a hobbit.’ It’s cruder and gets a laugh, but removes the backhanded cruelty of the original line. Williams undeniably possesses the charisma and authority for the role however, and has a lovely voice.

On the subject of fat-shaming, unkind references to Andy’s weight at Runway are not present in the show; it’s a shame, and as a friend who’s also seen the show pointed out, it’s another element in the film that makes her feel like an outsider and her day-to-day all the more miserable. Weight is still mentioned, but not as a direct attack on Andy, and removing it feels like an unnecessary softening, as if a more considerate 2024 audience can’t cope with it; despite the fact that even twenty years later, thinness is still the default in high fashion and if anything, becoming more so – and because these very personal slights are not replaced with anything, it lowers the stakes.

Outside of Runway, Andy’s boyfriend Nate (Rhys Whitfield) snags one of the catchier songs, ‘I Only Love You for Your Body,’ a playful and sexy number that shows off his excellent voice, as he advises her to ignore the toxic workplace culture and swears not to be swayed by Andy’s fancier clothes. The songs come thick and fast, and aren’t always memorable, although ‘Dress Your Way Up,’ the inevitable makeover montage, is great fun and allows Nigel (Matt Henry) and his gorgeous voice to shine. The most visually impressive moment of the first act was easily the gala at the Met (featuring the titular ‘The Devil Wears Prada’), which becomes more of a fork-in-the-road moment for Andy than it is in the film; we didn’t really need the following song (‘Miranda Girl’) which reinforces her moral quandary about replacing Emily in Paris (not that one.) The costuming, staging and lighting of the scene were incredibly opulent and impressive; Williams nails Miranda’s royal gravitas, dressed in a gorgeous devilish red.

Emily (Amy di Bartolomeo) steals the show consistently as Miranda’s put-upon first assistant. I enjoyed her spin on the Kate Moss line, ‘Nothing tastes as good as Paris is going to feel,’ and following the Paris-ending car accident, her character is given a brief subplot – the only major departure from the film and a further opportunity for Bartolomeo to show off her excellent comic timing and delivery (‘Bon Voyage’.) She’s the sole character who feels reinvigorated by the medium, because she’s given more plot and depth than her film iteration. It’s a difficult line to walk when the original characters and material are so beloved. Much like the inclusion of the many iconic lines, the creative team are damned if they do and damned if they don’t; fans will be sad if they’re absent, but annoyed if they’re present but altered. But it feels like Emily’s character is where the risk pays off – but perhaps that’s only because she’s a smaller role. It’s not a risk taken with Nate; although he has a good song at the start of the show, he’s made more harmless than in the film, and while when he and Andy take a break (‘The Old You’), there’s a momentary glimpse of more emotional complexity, this doesn’t pay off when they reunite at the end.

We follow Miranda and Andy to Paris, and the glittering Eiffel Tower set, sleek models, and flashing lights are atmospheric and visually impressive (‘Paris, City of Dreams’). The music feels the most inventive and slick here, creating a sense of heightened stakes and stress compared to the New York setting. Andy and Christian’s hook-up scene is unnecessarily serenaded by an unnamed chanteuse (‘In Your Twenties’), which gives an ensemble member with a lovely voice (Maddy Ambus) an opportunity to shine – but it feels completely unneeded and if anything distracts from the significance of the scene. Nigel announces good news about his career, leading to a much-deserved solo for Matt Henry (‘Seen’), but it’s a straightforward ballad about his journey, and I felt it might be more fun if it segued into a Paris-infused celebration of his hard work and suffering finally coming good. The climactic fashion show is staged beautifully and dramatically, with models posing dramatically around the theatre. The in-stage lights that they stride around don’t add a great deal however and too often feel like an accident waiting to happen for the striding models (my friend who saw the show another time mentioned that one of them did indeed ‘stack it.’)

Overall, I found the musical fun and flashy but ultimately disappointing. For me, the gold standard for musical adaptations of films is Groundhog Day – despite its underwritten female lead – given its inventive, witty score and book, and the way it takes advantage of the different medium to bring new life to parts of the original. Unfortunately, with the exception of Emily’s storyline, the show didn’t build on or elevate the existing material, even with the necessary lip service being paid to iconic lines. After Andy quits Runway, her and Nate’s relationship is rekindled in a few bars, which I found frustrating, given the amount of writing and video essays that have detailed his hypocrisy and the way he dismisses her career in the original, with her roundly blaming herself for letting her relationships fall by the wayside.  It seemed like a perfect opportunity to reframe one of the few flaws of the film, and squanders the complexity and nuances of their argument before she leaves for Paris. I also didn’t feel that Miranda’s post-divorce second act solo (‘Stay On Top’) fully examined the nuance of her position as a woman in business who has had to make sacrifices – and sacrifice others. Frustratingly, because it’s a new musical, I can’t find any of the lyrics online, which prevented me from re-evaluating the songs in case I missed something.

While it is always a treat to see such talented performers have their moment, especially Henry and di Bartolomeo, at its worst it felt like a live tribute to the film; inherently exciting because of being live, but not beyond that. The Dominion theatre recently reported that it’s the fastest-selling show in the theatre’s history and the run has been extended; it will at least provide an excellent forum for older actresses in the Miranda role and hopefully an ascension to the spotlight for the other parts.

The Devil Wears Prada is booking at the Dominion Theatre until October 2025.