“Diana: The Musical” is done.
Producers have announced a closing notice for December 19th.
The musical received horrendous reviews when it finally opened last month. It was postponed from the spring of 2020.
To make some money, producers filmed the show for Netflix where it aired in October also was panned across the board.
When it ends, “Diana” will have played 33 performances and 17 previews. Most days and nights, “Diana” has been playing to empty houses. Even though producers have not been giving out grosses, it was evident from looking at advance ticket sales that “Diana” wasn’t attracting an audience.
No one likes to see a Broadway show close. But the story of Princess Diana has proved to be a difficult sell both on Broadway and at the movies. The film, “Spencer,” has made only $6.5 million in release after a lot of publicity and praise for its star Kristen Stewart. But as with the musical, there was limited interest in spending money on a story the public could probably re-tell as quickly as they would know their own personal history.
In the case of “Diana: The Musical,” the show was weighed down by ridiculous songs that minimized all the players and showed not a bit of understanding for who were they were or are. The sad thing here is that “Diana” will live on in that filmed version forever.
