Musical is on Netflix ahead of Broadway – The Hollywood Reporter



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Friday, a project released on Netflix that is unlike any other: Diane: the musical. What sets him apart is not only that he tells the story of the life of the late Princess of Wales through song and dance, although it is certainly a unique approach. It is also the way it is disseminated to the world. “This is the first time a play opens on Netflix before opening on Broadway,” explained Franck marshall, one of the producers of the show and film, in an exclusive interview with Hollywood journalist Friday on his way to the film’s premiere – with tea – at the Crosby Street Hotel in New York City. “This has never happened before.”

Diane: the musical was one of dozens of Broadway projects that derailed when the pandemic shut down the Great White Way on March 12, 2020. “We were previewing,” says Marshall. “We had had nine previews and were due to open in 10 days, but we closed on the 12th. Of course at the time we thought it would be for two weeks or something, not 18 months. “

Soon after, Marshall and his associates got agitated. He recalls: “It seemed to me, as a film producer, that we had the sets and the actors were ready to go – everything was sort of in place in the theater. And we had just announced that Hamilton [the filmed version for Disney+] had been brought forward a year. I thought, ‘Maybe we could try to do it ourselves.’ So Beth [Williams, one of Marshall’s Broadway partners] and I called [Come from Away Tony winner] Chris Ashley, our director, and he said, “I’m in it”. And then I called Netflix.

The streamer signed on, then it was up to Marshall and his crew to safely shoot. Ultimately, his work as a producer of great films helped prepare him. “At the same time,” he said, “we were trying to get Jurassic World: Dominion operational again in London, so I was able to learn from this experience how to film during the COVID era. “

The Diane Filming took place over four days in September 2020. Marshall points out: “It really wasn’t what we call a ‘live capture’, which Hamilton was, because we didn’t have an audience. We shot it much more like a movie. We were able to put the camera in the right places and not have to turn around the audience, and we didn’t have any reaction shots, we didn’t have to wait for applause or anything, so Chris Ashley designed in the show cinematic transitions. It’s much more like a movie.

Marshall says the experience of filming Diane convinced him to pursue a similar journey with future theatrical productions, even if or when COVID is no longer a consideration. “It’s a way to reach a larger audience with a Broadway show,” he says. “I don’t think it rivals the stage version at all; I think they really help each other. We saw it with Hamilton and even, looking back, Chicago. The film Chicago did not interfere with the Broadway production at all. It really helped. And they also saw ticket sales on Hamilton go up after the exit of Disney +. So I just think of it as another way of looking at it. Now millions of people around the world can see our show. “

Corn will they discover another project about Princess Diana coming out of an Emmy Award-winning season of Netflix The crown in which it has featured prominently or with Pablo Larrainthe movie of Spencer, which focuses on the late princess, which is currently taking place on the film festival circuit? “Well, she was an amazing woman, and there are a lot of ways to celebrate her life, and we’re one of them,” Marshall says. “She’s fascinating, and I think the audience is really interested in seeing behind the curtain.”

Diane: the musical is on Netflix now. Broadway premieres will resume on November 2 with opening night on November 17.



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