You may have heard the expression, “Death by a thousand cuts.”
Its original meaning had to do with death by torture, but today its usage has to do with a figurative slow and painful death.
The expression came to me recently, and the thousand cuts were inflicted with words, not weapons.
The death was of Diana: The Musical, and words are the those of the reviewers.
The Diana refers to Lady Diana Spencer, who married Charles, Prince of Wales and heir to the throne of Great Britain, in 1981.
They had two sons, and divorced in 1996. Diana died in a car crash in 1997.
A tragic story for many reasons, and not what comes to mind – not to my mind, at least – as a topic for a musical.
I associate musicals with singing and dancing and general good cheer, and Diana’s life and death were anything but that.
Though I must allow that death sometimes is the focus of musicals – Carousel, for instance, by Rogers and Hammerstein, which debuted in 1945. When that show starts, the lead male character – Billy – is already dead. The story is told in flashback, and there’s singing and dancing and good cheer, and then we see…
Billy kill himself.
A more recent example is the musical Titanic, which opened in 1997. We all know how this story ends – the Titanic sinks in 1912 and more than 1,500 people die. Who wants to see a musical about that?
Apparently a lot of people did – it ran for 804 performances and won five Tony awards.
So perhaps the creators of Diana decided that her death would also be good grist for the musical mill.
I became aware of Diana early on because it premiered here in San Diego, at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2019. In the months prior to opening, Diana got plenty positive of media coverage like this:
“…the hotly anticipated musical…Industry insiders expect Diana will later transfer to Broadway…”
And once Diana opened, some reviewers had good things to say, including this:
“…an intimate, sympathetic look at the People’s Princess, one that positions her overwhelming popularity as a millstone around her neck and finds its story arc in the way she learned to wield it, to redirect that popularity in more subversive, noble ways.
“Taken all together, Diana is a worthy, persuasive tribute to what endeared the People’s Princess to so many, and an insightful picture of the struggles she faced behind closed doors.”
But this “Review Roundup” on BroadwayWorld.com offered reviews that weren’t so good…
“Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times: Diana, built around superficial musical comedy triggers…The performers manage that modern Broadway paradox of being supremely competent and completely unconvincing…choreography is a panting commotion. When Diana’s shocking ending comes, it has no more emotional weight than an old CNN news clip. We already know the story. Sad, sad, sad – but wasn’t she glamorous! Diana turns a complicated life into light entertainment…”
Death by a thousand cuts had begun.
And continued:
March 2019: “The show does attempt to tell the story of the other people impacted by this relationship but in trying to present all sides evenly, it ends up feeling unfocused. So much time speeds by and many things get touched upon, but no real depths are revealed about Diana, Charles, or their marriage…Under the guise of plumbing the emotional depths of a complex marriage the show instead finds entertainment by turning Diana into Dynasty.”
April 2019: “…most songs and lines are unmemorable and leave audiences simply remembering the drama and the storyline. To put it simply, it feels as though Diana’s life is narrated to us through typical contemporary musical theater songs, with not much added originality in style. The musical’s determination to hit all the dramatic events overlooks their characterization of Diana, Charles, and Camilla. They are simplified into mere characters, rather than actual multifaceted people.”
August 2019: “The editor of royal-centric magazine Majesty has already declared, that “‘It is in such bad taste that it’s best ignored.’”
Diana continued in San Diego through April 2019, began previews in New York in March 2020, then was shut down by COVID. Left in limbo, the director opted to film the show on the stage of an empty New York theater, and it premiered on Netflix on October 1, 2021.
And the death by a thousand cuts continued:
“What a genuinely bizarre work of art this is. Written by Joe DiPietro and the Bon Jovi keyboardist David Bryan, Diana: The Musical has the look and feel of an intentional parody; a sort of Springtime for Hitler for Daily Express readers. You could stick a pin in almost every song and pull out a line that makes the whole endeavour feel like it was specifically created as a berserk prank against the world.”
“The show received several one-star reviews from media outlets and was lambasted on social media platforms, with several users even branding the production ‘the worst show of the year.’
“Peter Bradshaw, writing for The Guardian, described the show as ‘a Rocky Horror Picture Show of cluelessness and misjudged Judy Garlandification. I can imagine masochists getting together for Diana: The Musical parties, just to sing the most nightmarish lines along with the cast. The rest of us will need a long lie down.’”
Then…at last…the Broadway premiere on November 17.
And the Broadway closing on December 19 after 33 performances:
By now the thousand cuts had become blood spilled ‘round the world:
From England:
To Australia:
To New York:
To Hollywood:
To Washington DC:
To San Diego:
What was the “hotly anticipated musical” and a “worthy, persuasive tribute to…the People’s Princess” back in 2019 became, in November 2021 “the flop of the year,” “aesthetically and morally mortifying” and, “devoid of insight, and ricocheting between dull vulgarity and vacuous hero worship.”
Diana died in 1997, and now Diana died, 24 years later.
I feel badly for the many people who invested their hearts, minds, time and energy – and hopes – into Diana.
I feel badly for the many people who invested their money – and hopes – in Diana.
I feel badly that all that’s left is the show’s website, with its closing date:
But rather than feeling badly, let’s move on and forget about Diana: The Musical.
And remember Diana like this:
Diana, 1983: Beautiful – she knew how to choose, and wear, hats!
Diana, 1994: Bold – some called it her “revenge dress,” worn after her husband announced his adultery on television:
Diana, 1997: Brave – in Angola, walking through a live minefield:
Diana, today: At peace:
I Hate Houseguests 