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Bon Jovi star says his Princess Diana musical is an ‘underdog’ tale

Nigel Howard
Nigel Howard

Bon Jovi star David Bryan says his upcoming musical about Princess Diana is a classic “underdog” story.

The keyboard player and his writing partner Joe DiPietro, the duo behind Tony and Olivier-award winning musical Memphis, are making progress on the show, which they hope to take to Broadway.

Bryan, who is in London for the opening of the pair’s cult rock musical The Toxic Avenger at The Arts Theatre tonight, said of Diana: “For us, it’s a different situation from here [in the UK]. Our kings and queen and princesses are only fairy tales compared to reality. But if you take away all the royal connections, Diana is a story about people, the emotions of people and championing an underdog — a woman in a trampled marriage.

"Everyone was kind of trapped in the kingdom, and she got out victorious, in her words. She came out strong, looked after her kids, taught the world about rooting for the little guy with her charitable work. It’s funny — Americans are the colonials who ran away from the royals and yet we’re fascinated by them.”

Of The Toxic Avenger, which is based on the classic horror movie, he said: “It’s like a demented version of Beauty And The Beast.”