Denise Welch to play Queen Elizabeth II in a musical about Princess Diana
Filmed version of the musical was met with damning reviews last year
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Denise Welch is set to star as Queen Elizabeth II in a London production of a musical about Princess Diana.
Diana the Musical debuted on Broadway in 2021, with a filmed version later being released on the streaming service Netflix.
The show is coming to the UK later this year, with a concert version – titled Diana the Musical in Concert – being staged for one night at the Hammersmith Apollo on 4 December.
“Queeeeeeeen!! Diana The Musical in concert. Dec 4th. Apollo Hammersmith,” the 65-year-old Loose Women host tweeted, alongside a poster advertising the event.
Diana was written by Tony award-winning Memphis playright Joe DiPietro and Bon Jovi keyboardist David Bryan, and loosely follows the life of the late “people’s princess”.
Reports have suggested that the concert version will divide the story into two parts.
When Diana debuted on Netflix back in October 2021, the project was torn apart by critics and viewers who branded the release “truly awful”.
“Genuinely painful to watch,” one viewer wrote at the time. “The idea of ‘DIANA: THE MUSICAL’ should’ve been destroyed, then burned, then have the earth where it grew salted.”
“I cannot stress how awful and perfect the Diana musical is,” wrote someone else. “Objectively the worst thing I’ve ever seen. A flawless, stunning fever dream. It should be considered a war crime and I want to watch it on repeat for the rest of my life.”
Diana died from injuries sustained in a car accident on 31 August 1997, at the age of 36. She had divorced Prince Charles (now king) in the previous year.
Queen Elizabeth died in September 2022, at the age of 96.
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