Vanessa Williams is Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada [Matt Crockett]

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The Devil Wears Prada
Dominion Theatre
☆☆☆

One doesn’t go to The Devil Wears Prada expecting depth. There’s plenty of glitz and dazzle in Jerry Mitchell’s musical production but, like the 2006 film, it needs nuanced lead performances to pull it off.

The show features an original score by Elton John, lyrics by Shaina Taub and Mark Sonnenblick, and book by Kate Wetherhead.

Aspiring journalist Andy (Georgie Buckland making an assured West End debut) is bowled over to be offered a job at the prestigious Runway magazine working for fashion’s powerful editor-in-chief Miranda Priestly (Vanessa Williams – not quite terrifying enough).

Soon Andy is sacrificing precious time with her long-term boyfriend, Nate (Rhys Whitfield), in order to meet Miranda’s impossible demands and satisfy her every whim.

Andy finds herself seduced by the glamorous world she once disdained. She forges an unlikely friendship with Miranda’s first assistant Emily (Amy Di Bartolomeo) and accepts sartorial advice from Nigel (Matt Henry) Runway’s creative fashion director. Then she starts making decisions that go against everything she once believed in.

Elton John is a safe pair of hands but none of the musical numbers really blow you away. Di Bartolomeo and Henry’s vocals impress the most. Mitchell’s choreography is unremarkable, although executed by a terrific ensemble of dancers teetering perilously on stiletto heels.

The show’s themes feel particularly hollow today and a reliance on spectacle over substance quickly palls. Who genuinely wants to return to skeletal models, shoulder pads and the vacuous concerns of a narcissistic fashion world?

That said, The Devil Wears Prada will inevitably retain loyal fans and tepid reviews will have little effect at the box office. It has already extended its run and I predict audiences will continue to flock to the show for quite some time.

Until October 18
devilwearspradamusical.com