The Diana Mixtape Musical at Here at Outernet Theatre, London || London

“The story of a humble commoner (who just happened to be a Lady)”

Princess Diana is one of those figures so beloved in the hearts of the UK public. I mean, after all, she wasn’t nicknamed The People’s Princess for nothing! So, how Christopher D Clegg was the first person (that I’ve heard of at least!) to turn her story into a musical is beyond me.

The Diana Mixtape stars drag juggernauts Courney Act, Divina De Campo, Rosé, Kitty Scott-Claus, and Priyanka as Princess Diana (yes, all of them play Diana, more on that later!) and breakout star of The Greatest Showman, Keala Settle as Queen Elizabeth. And of course, every theatre show needs a villain or two, with Noel Sullivan and Lucinda Lawrence taking on the roles of Charles and Camilla. (Which, should tell you as a pre-warning, if you’re a hardcore royalist looking for a biographic re-telling of Princess Diana and Charles’ relationship, this may not be the show for you!)

The Diana Mixtape Musical at Here at Outernet Theatre, London

From the creator and producer of drag theatre productions such as Gals Aloud and Death Drop (which, by the way, if it ever comes to the theatre again, you need to see! A totally fun and camp show of which I loved every minute!), my friend Michelle and I had high hopes. And, if you’ve seen any of the queens in question either on their respective seasons of Drag Race or in their projects after, you’ll know why. These are the crème de la crème of drag theatre talent, each with scene-stealing stealing worthy vocal talents. Combine this with a playlist full to the brim with girlie pop anthems you’re in for a fun night. The show doesn’t take itself too seriously (and after all, why should it!) and the producers have truly nailed the flow. With a format of a quick, chatty segway, followed by the next performance, the hour and a half flew by.

While I went in expecting big things from Keala Settle and, of course, the queens, the true surprise of the evening for me was just how fabulous Noel Sullivan and Lucinda Lawrence were in their portrayal of Charles and Camilla. Whoever designed the Camilla wig deserves their flowers, and the choice to turn her into a chain-smoking Disney-style villain was truly genius. My personal favourite Camilla moment was using a dig about “common people” launching right into a belting performance of Physical by Dua Lipa. Talking of song choices, while I don’t want to spoil it by writing it out beat for beat, I’ll go into some of my favourite moments. Namely, Keala Settle as Queen Elizabeth’s incredible vocals and impeccable timing performing Commander by Kelly Rowland and David Guetta. The quite frankly inspired choice to use Beyoncé’s Freakum Dress while getting ready for the 1994 dinner at the Serpentine Gallery.

Photo Credit – Harry Elletson

★★★★☆ – A camp night out that you’ll most likely leave smiling

While some of the jokes may be a little tongue-in-cheek for some. I found the choice to stop the show after one of the most iconic Princess Diana moments, her Revenge Dress showed how this was designed to be a love letter to the late princess. And after all, as the queens said, she would have loved a drag show about her!

The Diana Mixtape is at Here at Outernet in London until August 10th. (Tickets here!). Before moving on to Lowry in Salford from August 19th to the 21st. (Tickets for those dates, here!) We picked up standing tickets at the Royal Mezzanine (standing) and all photos without other credit were taken by me there, to give you an idea of the view. There may have been better views available from the front of the area, but I’d assume, like in our case, they fill up fast, so get there early!