“The Devil Wears Prada”

Here is where I need to tell you that last week I revisited the film to refresh my memory of the story and characters. Please understand that these three ladies had some pretty big shoes to fill as these roles were handled by  Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt. I must tell you that the trio of ladies on the stage at the Nederlander Theatre handled the roles with style, class and all of them can sing! Nigel ( the role played by Stanley Tucci in the film) is brilliantly handled by Javier Munoz.

There are times in the story when one feels concerned for  Andy and her life style change with the new job. Her relationship with her besties and her boyfriend are altered by the career moves and despite changing for the job, deep inside she never loses the “good girl” loyalty and caring. She makes mistakes ( as do most of us) but does the right thing when the situation calls for it!

The ensemble gathered for this production is powerful and we learned tonight that during the run they have had numerous bouts of Covid causing many substitutions and as I always say the understudies and swings have become more valuable of late due to the pandemic. An interesting story in this “tryout” is that of a Chicago actor, Sawyer Smith. Sawyer has done numerous shows in the area and was cast as an ensemble member for this production. A few weeks ago, Covid hit and Sawyer had to stay out for the required days. Sawyer got well and as new shows go, there are changes almost daily for the cast to learn. Sawyer came back and ended up with a broken arm. Director Anna D. Shapiro ( of Steppenwolf fame) said Sawyer was not being replaced, but rather she redid costumes and blocking to accommodate the casted arm. When Elton John stopped by to view the show, seeing the cast, he autographed it, so Sawyer’s dream of going to Broadway never was in question thanks to the marvelous people involved with this production.

The sets (Christine Jones and Brett Banakis) are amazing. We watch the elevated train lines of New York become the Eifel Tower in a matter of a minute. Spectaular!, The costumes (Arianne Phillips) are magical and the lighting design (Paule Constable) illuminating. The sound (Nevin Steinberg) is clear and the choreography (James Alsop) interesting to watch .For five weeks they have been bringing this show, with changes almost daily , to our Chicago audiences. Two more weeks and then producer Kevin McCollum ( a long list of success stories) will bring it to those in New York who will hear about this worthy production. It is nice when they can transform a movie to a musical and keep the story intact.

You can catch the show before it heads to Broadway at The James Nederlander Theatre ( formerly the Ford Theatre) at 24 West Randolph as follows: