Elton’s Prada has found its Devil: Vanessa Williams has been cast as Miranda Priestly in the upcoming West End production of the Elton John-Shaina Taub stage musical adaptation of The Devil Wears Prada.
“Don’t just sit there,” demands Williams, in character as the tyrannical magazine editor at the of a new teaser trailer. “Buy tickets. Or something.”
The long-anticipated The Devil Wears Prada opens October 24 at the Dominion Theatre in London.
Williams, who played the similarly chic Wilhelmina Slater in TV’s Ugly Betty, said in a statement, “Bringing Miranda Priestly to life in the West End is an absolute dream come true. Gird your loins, folks.”
No stranger to the stage, Williams made her West End debut in 2019 in a revival of City of Angels, and has appeared on Broadway in Into the Woods, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Sondheim on Sondheim, The Trip to Bountiful, After Midnight, and, most recently, 2022’s POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive.
Based on Lauren Weisberger’s 2003 novel and the 2006 movie adaptation (which starred Meryl Streep in the Priestly role), Prada features music by John, lyrics by Taub (whose Suffs is heading to Broadway this spring), and a book by Kate Wetherhead. Jerry Mitchell directs and choreographs.
Additional casting will be announced later.
A version of the musical, directed by Anna D. Shapiro, debuted in Chicago in 2022, with Broadway favorite Beth Leavel (The Prom) in the Priestly role, though a transfer was, at the time, nixed when John deemed the production “not ready” for an immediate subsequent staging.
Watch the teaser with Williams above.
