Vanessa's new role 'a dream come true'

‘THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA’ STAR ARRIVES IN PLYMOUTH

- ANDY PHILLIPS

LEGENDARY actor, singer and dancer Vanessa Williams has said she is already ‘loving’ Plymouth as she prepares for a starring role in the new musical The Devil Wears Prada which is opening at Theatre Royal Plymouth next month.

The instantly-recognisable star – perhaps best known for her role as Wilhemina in the US series Ugly Betty – arrived in Plymouth on Sunday, and was at a special launch event at Mount Edgcumbe on Wednesday.

Williams, who is playing the role of Miranda Priestly in the musical, was part of the cast and crew of the musical who took a boat from Royal William Yard to the exclusive launch event at The Orangery, on the Cornwall side of the Tamar.

She said her arrival to an apartment overlooking the Hoe coincided with Sting headlining the Summer Sessions 2024 – and she initially thought it was a Police cover band before realising she was watching the real thing.

She told The Herald: “We came in Sunday night and we’ve been in rehearsals, but the night that I came I opened my window and looked down and saw this music, and saw a band.

“I thought ‘it’s got to be a cover band’ but I was texting someone saying here’s my view, and they said ‘it’s Sting’.

“I thought it was a Police cover band, but I was told, no, that’s actually Sting!