INTERVIEW: Erin Davie on finding her character’s arc in ‘Diana, The Musical’
Photo: Diana, The Musical stars, from left, Jeanna de Waal and Erin Davie. Photo courtesy of Matthew Murphy / Provided by DKC O&M with permission.
Diana, The Musical, which continues at Broadway’s Longacre Theatre through Sunday, Dec. 19, tells the well-known story of the “People’s Princess.” Diana, played by Jeanna de Waal, is portrayed through many of the most significant, important and troubling times of her life. She marries into the royal family when she weds Prince Charles (Roe Hartrampf), and her new life includes the Queen of England (Judy Kaye) as her mother-in-law. In some ways, she takes to the new lifestyle because it offers chances for her to raise awareness about important causes that matter to her the most, but her regality comes with a price. The paparazzi swarm her like pesky bees, and her every move is watched and scrutinized.
In the musical, which comes from the mind of Joe DiPietro and David Bryan, Diana and Charles see their marriage crumble before their eyes — and the eyes of the interested public. One of the challenges to the marriage is a relationship Charles has with Camilla Parker Bowles, played by the celebrated Broadway actor Erin Davie. The musical offers audience members the rare chance to better understand Parker Bowles as a character, appreciating her story and her thoughts on these difficult times.
For Davie, an alumna of Sunday in the Park With George and Side Show, the chance to play this well-known person in a Broadway musical was a welcome challenge. “It’s a lot of fun actually,” Davie said in a recent phone interview. “We were really lucky that we got to work over the year of the pandemic because we filmed [the musical] for Netflix, which also understandably strengthened our relationships with each other as a cast, so now it feels like gravy getting to do it everyday.”
What Davie referenced was the noncontiguous story of how Diana came to be at the Longacre. The new musical is part of the group of shows that were shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, cutting off any momentum and turning away audiences. They kept the company together thanks to a Netflix movie that filmed the production for the streaming giant. Then, Davie and company completed the circle by waiting patiently for this fall season, when Diana finally reopened and had its proper time in the spotlight. It has been a long journey for Davie.
“They did a reading of it in 2018, I think, in the summer at Vassar,” she said. “They called and asked me to be a part of it, and a lot of times you’ll be a part of readings of new musicals. … They’re for trying out the piece and seeing what works and what doesn’t. I was just asked to do it, and I thought, this sounds like a fun group to work with for three weeks. So why not? You never can assume that a show is going to go on after a reading, so when it does, it’s a complete treat.”
Davie was taken by the Parker Bowles character, mostly because the show allows an interpretive glance behind the curtain, allowing her to share her thoughts with the audience. “When people think of Camilla Parker Bowles, they think that she’s the villain of the story,” the actor said. “What’s great is in this story they make her very relatable, and you were able to see this story a little bit through her eyes as well. And so it’s made it really fun to play. She has a lovely story and a lovely arc.”
Davie is not exactly an ardent follower of all things monarchial. She keeps the details fo the British royal family in the background, although she can’t help but read some of the headlines, especially in recent years when the spotlight has turned to Diana’s sons, William and Harry.
Helping build this royal family on the stage is a hard-working ensemble that includes not only de Waal, Davie, Kaye and Hartrampf, but also more than a dozen performers, many of them making their Broadway debut. “They’re so good,” Davie said. “I love how many of them are featured and featured so strongly. It really is the best group of people I could have asked to go through this whole year with. I really cannot say enough about them. So many people are having their Broadway debuts. Everybody’s really grateful to be there. They’re triple threats.”
On Kaye, a two-time Tony Award winner, Davie had high praise as well: “She’s totally legendary. I love Judy Kaye. I want everybody, especially a new generation, to know how great Judy Kaye is. … So getting to work with her and hear her stories is the biggest treat for me.”
Being in Diana, The Musical has been a positive experience for Davie, but in recent weeks, the actor, along with the rest of the Broadway community, had to say goodbye to a beloved figure. Stephen Sondheim died at the end of November, and Davie is one of the rare performers who can say that she has performed his songs in a Broadway theater — in multiple shows. Her résumé includes not only Sunday in the Park With George, in which she played Yvonne/Naomi, but also A Little Night Music, in which she played Countess Charlotte Malcolm.
“I feel like for years somewhat in the back of my mind I’ve been preparing myself that he’s not going to be with us forever,” she said. “But when it happened, it’s still like a gut punch for all of us. We did this thing last week in Times Square. A lot of the Broadway community came together, and they sang ‘Sunday’ on the Sunday after his passing. It was on that little island in the middle of Times Square. It was covered with people, and that is just a tiny, tiny representation of all the people who were touched by him and who would have wanted to be there and expressed it in that way. It was amazing to be a part of that and to realize the amazing scope and reach of his work.”
She added: “There’s so many layers to his music. It’s so smart, and the more you work on it, you’ll find new things and be like, ‘Oh my God, I didn’t realize that. He obviously did that purposefully.’ It’s so clever, absolutely, in so many ways — musically, lyrically. It is like gold, and having him in the room respond to something that you’re doing to his work is like Christmas for any performer.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Diana, The Musical, featuring Erin Davie, continues through Sunday, Dec. 19 at the Longacre Theatre on Broadway. Click here for more information and tickets.
