Elton John delights crowd with appearance at Devil Wears Prada premiere despite tragic health news
Sir Elton John wrote the score for the Devil Wears Prada musical. (Getty)
Queer icon Elton John attended the West End premiere of The Devil Wears Prada: A New Musical on Sunday (1 December), despite not being able to watch his own musical due to losing his eyesight.
The show at London’s Dominion Theatre hosted a charity gala on Sunday (December 1) to raise money for the Elton John AIDS Foundation, coinciding with World AIDS Day.
The event saw Elton John himself appear, as well as a number of celebs including Anna Wintour – on whom Devil Wears Prada character Miranda Priestly is supposedly based – Lily Collins, and Donatella Versace.
Speaking to the audience he said: “I haven’t been able to come to many of the previews because, as you know, I have lost my eyesight. So it’s hard for me to see it, but I love to hear it and, boy, it sounded good tonight.”
John also thanked his husband, David Furnish, for being his “rock” after having to deal “with a severe eye infection” that has left John with “limited vision in one eye”.
He said he has been healing from the infection for the last few months, after contracting it in the south of France.
Elton John wrote the music for The Devil Wears Prada stage musical, which is adapted from a 2006 film starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway.
Both the movie and the musical tell the story of a young journalist named Andy who becomes the assistant to one of the most famous fashion magazine editors in the world, Miranda Priestly.
Speaking to the BBC at the charity gala, Wintour said she was looking forward to supporting John and described the musical as “entertaining”.
When asked whether The Devil Wears Prada was representative of the fashion industry and of the perceived similarities between the character of Priestly and Wintour, the Vogue editor said: “It’s for the audience and for the people I work with to decide if there are any similarities between me and Miranda Priestly.”
The musical currently stars Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives actor Vanessa Williams as Priestly.
The Devil Wears Prada will be on stage until May 31.
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