Interview: Megan Masako Haley of THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA Pre-Broadway Tryout

 

Andy Sachs, Emily Charlton, and of course, the infamous Miranda Priestly from THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA are back following Lauren Weisberger's 2003 novel and the cult-classic 2006 film... but this time, these iconic characters are taking to the stage in a brand-new musical with music from Elton John, lyrics from Shaina Taub, book by Kate Wetherhead, and direction from Anna Shapiro (who many Chicago audiences will know from her tenure at Steppenwolf Theatre Company). Megan Masako Haley takes on the role of Emily. I interviewed Megan early in the preview period for the show's pre-Broadway Chicago tryout about her experience bringing the character to life and the creative process for this new musical.

Talk to me about the experience of bringing a brand-new musical to life. What has it been like being involved in this project during rehearsals and now into previews?

The movie is just a huge part of my young teen years and so it's obviously always been a favorite and so getting to work on the show, getting to play Emily who is just like an archetype of a person we all know. I just feel like this is an archetype of a person we know, who has become such a beloved classic character. I've never gotten to create something from the ground up like this before so it's just been fun and exciting, a dream come true.

Between playing the role of Gretchen Wieners in the MEAN GIRLS national tour and now originating the role of Emily Charlton in THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, you're portraying two iconic film characters. How do you make the role of Emily your own, while also bringing in elements that film fans will recognize?

I think the first thing I have to shout out are the directors of both projects. Anna Shapiro for THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA has never made me feel like I couldn't bring my whole self to Emily. As I said, the type of person is very familiar, and I think audiences will instantly recognize exactly who Emily is, but I've been given a lot of artistic license to bring parts of myself or her and update her to 2022.

Many of the cultural conversations we're having around fashion and body image and representation of different body types in media have evolved since the film was released in 2006. Will we see some of these shifts reflected now in the musical, and how did that play out in the creative process?

I think that we have an incredible creative team of mostly women, which I think was really, really important for updating this story to 2022. [We're making] sure that it's about a young woman's story and centering that and taking into account where we are politically in 2022 without squashing out that sometimes the fashion industry is still mean now, and that's not something we're going to gloss over. We're going to look that in the face. But also I think, without giving too much away, [the creative team has] done a smart job at updating it. Our book writer Kate Wetherhead is so smart. The musical takes into account jokes that when you watch the movie, they hit differently now.

Anna Shapiro is well known in Chicago because of her long history with Steppenwolf and her previous role as Steppenwolf's artistic director. What is it like working with her as a director?

Even to go all the way back to the audition process actors for the last two and a half years we've been sending out videos out into the void to audition. But going into the room for the first in-person audition and having her give notes, that's honestly when I was like, "Oh, I want this job. I need to have this job. I need to work with this woman." She is such an insightful and thoughtful director. She's incredible at getting the best out of a company of people...I think this is the first time I've worked with a female director, which is crazy. There's just something really different and beautiful about it. I've worked with lots of female associate directors, [but this is the first time I've worked with a female lead director].

This show has quite a renowned writing team between Elton John as composer, Kate Wetherhead as book writer, and Shaina Taub as lyricist. What has it been like working with the writing team on this show?

Sometimes I still have to pinch myself. I can't believe that Elton John knows who I am. It's been a really beautiful thing to be able to come into this project. They've all been working on it for several years. I just started with this most recent rehearsal process for this production. And to see where it already was on day one, which I thought was so fantastic. The amount of fine-tuning that's happened since late May has been incredible to watch. That's the beauty of doing something brand new. If something's not working, we just change it. There's nothing frozen that we can't change.

Now that you're in the preview period, can you tell me a little bit more about how you think the show will evolve now that it's in front of audiences?

It was crazy that first night just remembering that people are going to laugh at the lines. Making those calculations of, "Oh, I need to make sure I give the audience a second to laugh so they hear the next line so they can laugh again." It's about listening to each other, listening to our other scene partner, which is the audience. We're still in rehearsals during the day. I've never done a project that's new like this so it's thrilling to see what changes go in that night.

What techniques do you use to memorize lines and lyrics, particularly with a new show like this where the material could very well be changing daily throughout previews?

I actually can't remember who told me this, but there's this technique where you write the first letter of each word in a big Sharpie marker and then you read that as you read the lines. I can memorize quite a bit in probably about 15 minutes. If there's any young theater performers out there, that's actually really easy. That's one I can't believe someone taught me until I was five years into my career.

What can audiences expect from THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA? Can you tell me more about what's been preserved from the original film and what's been expanded on or added for the musical?

First and foremost, the beloved characters have been preserved. Their essences are all there. You will recognize everyone you know from the movie. I think audiences are going to love the costume design. Arianne Phillips, our costume designer, is a genius. The detail in every single design, for every principal character, every ensemble member, has been so thoughtfully designed...I think people are going to love that part of it.

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See Megan Masako Haley as Emily Charlton in Broadway In Chicago's pre-Broadway tryout of THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA through August 21, 2022 at the James M. Nederlander Theatre, 24 West Randolph Street.

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