The Devil Wears Prada

Six months on the New York Times bestseller list; Wintour, apparently, took it rather well.

Published on 6 February 2003 by Broadway Books, The Devil Wears Prada drew heavily on Weisberger's own experience as personal assistant to Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour. The novel spent six months on the New York Times bestseller list and was translated into 27 languages. Wintour herself reportedly found the whole thing rather amusing, though her staff were said to be less entertained.

A $35 million production that returned over nine times its budget; not bad for a film about a handbag.

Released on 30 June 2006, the film adaptation directed by David Frankel transformed the source material into something sharper and more layered, largely thanks to Aline Brosh McKenna's screenplay and Streep's now-iconic performance as Miranda Priestly. Made for approximately $35 million, it grossed over $326 million worldwide. Streep earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, and the film picked up a nomination for Best Costume Design. Emily Blunt's scene-stealing turn as the long-suffering first assistant Emily became a cultural touchstone in its own right.

Eight years on, Andy and Emily were back. running a wedding magazine, no less.

Weisberger returned to the world of Runway magazine with Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns, published in 2013. Set eight years after the original, it followed Andy and Emily as they ran a wedding magazine. A further sequel, When Life Gives You Lululemons, arrived in 2018, shifting focus to Emily's reinvention as a celebrity image consultant. The franchise had legs, even if the sequels never quite matched the original's bite.

Front-row regular Elton John brought his theatrical instincts to Miranda Priestly's world, composing the score for the stage adaptation.

In 2017, it was announced that Elton John would compose the score for a musical adaptation of The Devil Wears Prada. The pairing made a certain kind of sense: John's flair for theatrical melody and his own deep connection to the fashion world (he has been a front-row fixture for decades) gave the project genuine credibility. Shaina Taub and Mark Sonnenblick were brought on as lyricists, with Kate Wetherhead writing the book.

Chicago was the proving ground; Beth Leavel commanded the Nederlander stage as Miranda Priestly that July.

The Devil Wears Prada: A New Musical had its world premiere on 19 July 2022 at the James M. Nederlander Theatre in Chicago. Beth Leavel starred as Miranda Priestly, with Taylor Iman Jones as Andy Sachs. The production ran through 21 August 2022. Reviews were mixed but acknowledged the ambition of the piece, and the creative team used the Chicago run as a proving ground, refining the show significantly before its next outing.

Plymouth got the world premiere that Broadway never did.

Rather than heading straight to Broadway, the production pivoted to the UK. A substantially reworked version opened at the Theatre Royal Plymouth in the summer of 2024, with Vanessa Williams taking on the role of Miranda Priestly. The Plymouth run served as a pre-West End tryout, allowing the creative team to fine-tune the show with a fresh cast and revised material before its London transfer.

Vanessa Williams made Miranda Priestly her own across 2,069 West End seats.

The Devil Wears Prada opened at the Dominion Theatre on Tottenham Court Road in October 2024, marking its West End debut. Vanessa Williams continued in the lead role, bringing a commanding presence to Miranda Priestly that distinguished her interpretation from Streep's film portrayal. The Dominion, with its 2,069-seat capacity, gave the production the scale it needed for its elaborate fashion-world staging and set pieces.

A West End night guaranteed to keep your guests talking long after the final curtain.

By 2025, The Devil Wears Prada had established itself as one of the West End's most talked-about new musicals. The combination of Elton John's name, the beloved source material, and the sheer spectacle of the production's fashion-forward staging continued to draw audiences. For corporate hospitality, the show offers something genuinely different: a night at the theatre that sparks conversation long after the curtain falls, set against the backdrop of one of London's most accessible theatre district locations.