Diana: The Musical

They filmed a Broadway opening with nobody in the seats. Then the Razzies filled them.

In summer 2020, Christopher Ashley shot Diana: The Musical at the Longacre Theatre with COVID protocols and no audience. Netflix put that capture up on October 1, 2021, weeks before the delayed Broadway opening. Wikipedia and Deadline both treat the empty-house tape as the version that later took five Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture. latestnetflix.com's view is that it was the first filmed stage performance to land that raspberry., ,

The stage show had already been interrupted. Previews started at the Longacre on March 2, 2020. Opening night was set for March 31. Broadway went dark on March 12. When it finally resumed, previews began November 2, 2021, and opening night was November 17. The New York Times later reported that the week ending December 12 played to 51 percent capacity and grossed $374,000. The production closed December 19 after 33 performances and 16 previews. Deadline, writing up the Razzies, put the Broadway run at those same 33 performances. ,

Before New York, the piece had tried out at La Jolla Playhouse. Previews began February 19, 2019. The world premiere opened March 3. The limited run was extended twice and closed April 14. Ashley directed there too. Kelly Devine choreographed. Joe DiPietro wrote the book and lyrics. David Bryan, Bon Jovi's keyboardist, wrote the music and lyrics with him.

The hate-watch arrived first. The defense arrived in a Rolls.

Peter Bradshaw at The Guardian gave the Netflix film one star and called it a royal debacle so bad you might hyperventilate. He compared the strangeness to the Cats movie and wrote that if it were deliberate satire it would be genius, but it is not. Jesse Green in The New York Times, reviewing the Broadway staging, wrote that if you care about Diana as a human being, or dignity as a concept, you would find the treatment "aesthetically and morally mortifying." Variety's Peter Debruge called the streamer version a shallow pop tribute. Rotten Tomatoes later sat at 12 percent of 34 reviews, consensus "Diana done dirty." Metacritic scored 29. , ,

Jeanna de Waal, who had been with the project for about five years, did not fold. On opening night Variety put her and Roe Hartrampf into a white Rolls-Royce outside the Longacre. "I'm intrigued why people think it's great to make a really serious film about her, but really bad to make a light-hearted musical," she said. She added that audiences in tiaras who boo Charles deserve their night as much as anyone who wants to weep at a movie. "I love that our show doesn't take itself seriously. And so you can judge it for being that, if you like." She also said she genuinely thinks Diana would have enjoyed it.

Producer Frank Marshall, speaking outside the theater that night, said it was never meant to be a serious study. "This is one way of telling her story, and we have to face the reality that it was a tabloid story." The first line of the show asks whether there was ever a greater tabloid tale. Judy Kaye played Queen Elizabeth and Barbara Cartland, a double that later won her the Razzie for Worst Supporting Actress. De Waal took Worst Actress. Ashley took Worst Director. The screenplay raspberry went to DiPietro and Bryan. Roe Hartrampf was nominated for Worst Actor and did not win. , ,

The official Netflix trailer is still online, selling a landmark musical event that would debut on the streamer before Broadway. That order is the whole scandal. The world saw the empty-house tape, decided it was a hate-watch, and then Broadway asked people to buy tickets for the same songs. They did not buy enough. On March 26, 2022, the Razzies made the Netflix cut official worst-of-year furniture. William Ivey Long still picked up a Tony nomination for costumes. A clothes horse with a raspberry in its teeth. , ,