DIANA will return to the stage in Broadway

Attention, Broadway fans – brace yourselves for a royal announcement!

The much anticipated production of Diana, the bio-musical detailing the life of Princess Diana of Wales, has announced that it will once again grace the stage and make its Broadway debut on December 13.  There will also be two weeks of preview performances starting on December 1.

The show was in the middle of its preview run when the pandemic closed down all Broadway productions.

And if you can’t afford the price of a Broadway ticket, the musical has also announced it will be coming to streaming service Netflix on October 1. This release makes Diana the first Broadway musical ever to premiere on a streaming platform before officially making its Broadway debut.

In a joint statement, producers Beth Williams (Grove Entertainment) and Frank Marshall (The Araca Group) said the following:

The chance to share our show, first with Netflix’s global audience, and then welcoming a live audience back on Broadway, is something we’ve all been dreaming about for more than a year. We could not be more thrilled to finally share both the film and the Broadway musical with the world.

This is not the first sign of movement from the Diana team in recent times. Not so long ago, they announced they had reunited to rehearse the production, record the original cast album and also film on the Longacre Theatre stage – without an audience of course. The filming and recording process involved cast and crew socially isolating themselves to prevent any potential COVID-19 transmission.

Diana’s journey to the small screen follows the huge success of Disney’s filmed production of Hamilton, which rose to new heights of popularity when it was released in July 2020. When Lin-Manuel Miranda’s rap musical dropped, it was the single most watched product on any streaming platform for the entire month. Netflix will certainly be hoping for similar success for Diana.

The musical was written by the Tony-winning collaboration of Joe DiPetro (who supplied the lyrics) and David Bryan (music). Diana is helmed by award-winning director Christopher Ashley, while Kelly Devine and Ian Eisendrath are on-board as choreographer and musical supervisor respectively.

The original Broadway cast are set to return – all of whom will be starring in the Netflix special. This includes Jeanna de Waal as Diana, Roe Hartrampf as Prince Charles, musical theatre stalwart and two-time Tony winner Judy Kaye as Queen Elizabeth and Erin Davie as Camila Parker Bowles.

The production also features the following cast members: Zach Adkins, Tessa Alves, Ashely Andrews, Austen Danielle Bohmer, Holly Ann Butler, Stephen Carrasco, Bruce Dow, Richard Gatta, Lauren E.J. Hamilton, Emma Hearn, Shaye B. Hopkins, Andre Jordan, Gareth Keegan, Nathan Lucrezio, Tomas Matos, Chris Merlin, Laura Stracko and Bethany Ann Tesarck.