Di Lady Di, a favorite at this year’s Hollywood Fringe Festival, is currently playing in rotation with All is True, or Henry VIII at The Whitmore Theatre in North Hollywood, throughout November and early December. Ernest Kearney’s Fringe review for Di Lady Di has been reposted below.
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By Ernest Kearney — What is quite startling about Charlotte Munson’s performance in her musical Di Lady Di, is the agility she displays in shifting from moments of superbly silly mockery of Prince Charles and other royal foils to embracing the understated sensuality of the “People’s Princess” all in the space of a mere breath, a quality that reminded me of the great and undeservingly forgotten Carol Lombard.
Within the constraint of a single hour Munson takes us through Diana, Princess of Wales’ whole twisted history of a fairy tale gone horribly wrong, from her first meeting with Charles, the heir to the British throne, through the counterfeit courtship and façade of a marriage, and finally to Diana’s rebellion against the archaic restraints of the aristocracy.
With book and lyrics by Munson, and music by Richard Munson, this is as tight and entertaining a piece of musical theatre as one could wish for with Munson herself showing a beautiful singing voice capable of handling an intricate and demanding score with stunning ease, even to the point of engaging in duets with her prerecorded self.
The staging, which is clever and wonderfully theatrical throughout, is only enhanced by Munson’s nimbleness in executing them, such as her dexterity in manipulating an empty dinner jacket as a stand in for her royal husband.
Director Charles Pasternak keeps the pace moving at a fast clip and ensures that the clarity of Munson’s performance and script are crystal throughout. Drina Durazo’s “projection designs” add the right amount of spice to the staging, and Producer Scott Golden adds another feather to his already prodigious bonnet.
All in all, a perfect performance in a perfect production.
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