Underestimated: DIANA: The Musical review, Part 2: the Netflix Proshot

So, after writing my review on Friday afternoon of the DIANA cast recording, I finally broke down and watched the Netflix proshot. Spoiler, I really, really enjoyed it, and was deeply moved by it, to tears, multiple times.

Here is a small collection of my thoughts, vaguely organized: 

• The costumes and the costume changes are incredible. I have a soft spot for the English fashion  of the early 1980's (as in the actual, historical fashion, not the pop culture interpretation of it), and they NAILED IT. The costume changes are incredible. I literally said "wooooooooow" out loud multiple times. I know people complained about the wigs, but the hair looked accurate? Especially Diana's. Do people not remember how horrible hair looked in the 80's?
• Jeanna De Waal is incredible, is nothing short of exceptional, and I will hear nothing else. It was one thing hearing her gorgeous voice on the cast recording, it's another to see her work as Diana. 25/10, perfection, no notes.
• The tone of the show, the songs, and the lyrics, again, just reminded me of every other 80's pop song or mega musical, I did not think they were THAT egregious. If this had come out in the 80's, no one would have batted an eye.
• As someone who is familiar enough with Diana's life, there were a lot of things this musical reminded me of how many incredible things she did, how much she loved her family, and how much she cared for others. She made sure that she used her privilege and her power to make the world a safer, softer place for others; in many ways, this is especially moving in retrospect because we know that the people in her life who were supposed to take care of her or keep her safe were committed to making her as miserable as possible.
• I am also glad that the musical touched on how much the contemporary press hated her, but how it was her commitment to the people that was her lasting legacy.
• I was not expecting to cry watching this as much as I did. That aspect really took my by surprise. Things went rather rapidly from, "this is an awful lot of fun!" to "oh my god, my entire body hurts from crying.
• Again, I think the dog piling of negative comments toward it were grossly disproportionate to the actual quality of the show and the Netflix special itself. There. I said it. You all just wanted to go viral being as mean and as shitty as possible.
• All in all, were I to give it a rating, I would probably give it a B-!

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