Elton John performs Devil Wears Prada musical songs, says fans will be 'elated' by show

Elton John? Writing good music? Groundbreaking.

The Grammy-winning global superstar has unveiled new details about his work on the upcoming The Devil Wears Prada musical, promising that his songs for the screen-to-stage adaptation of David Frankel's 2006 blockbuster will be "modern" and that he "enjoyed writing every single one." He also promised that theatergoers will "walk out elated" when they finally see the production.

"All the characters [have] kind of got something to say, so it gives you great scope for writing," the 75-year-old told PEOPLE in a new video interview, adding that he and collaborator Shaina Taub have finished about 20 numbers so far for the Anna D. Shapiro–directed project. "You can write tongue-in-cheek numbers, you can write serious numbers, you can write a very romantic song, a very frivolous song."

John also called the Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway hit, about an aspiring journalist who takes a job with a ruthless fashion editor, one of his "favorite films," with subject matter that "screams out for music" and that inspired him immensely.

The singer-songwriter performed previews of several tracks in the video, including "Dress Your Way Up," "When a Legend Is Born," and the title track, "The Devil Wears Prada."

"The lyrics are so brilliant, because it sounds like I've been to enough fashion shows in my life to know that it's the excitement of when you see something new, and you see something great, and you're there and you can feel the excitement within the crowd, and you know that something special has come," he said of adding "When a Legend Is Born" to the soundtrack. "It's like going to see a rock concert."

The musical stars Tony-winning actress Beth Leavel as Streep's Miranda Priestly, head of Runway magazine, with Taylor Iman Jones stepping into Hathaway's Chanel boots in the role of the up-and-coming writer Andy Sachs. Other cast members include Javier Muñoz as Nigel Owens (played by Stanley Tucci in the film); Christiana Cole as Lauren Hunter; Megan Masako Haley as Emily Charlton (portrayed by Emily Blunt in the film); Tiffany Mann as Kayla Ward; Michael Tacconi as Nate Angstrom (Adrian Grenier onscreen), and actor Christian Thompson playing the fictional writer of the same name (brought to life by Simon Baker in Frankel's version).

In EW's 2021 oral history celebrating the film's 15th anniversary, Streep revealed that the film marked a significant shift in her career.

"Because they'd given us such straitened circumstances to make the film with a smaller budget, this opened up and said that a 'chick flick' can be a huge hit with a broad audience," she said. "This is the first movie [where] men have come up to me and said, 'I know how you felt; I have a company, and nobody understands me. It's really hard.' It's the hardest thing in the world for a man to feel his way through to the protagonist of the film if it's a woman."

The Devil Wears Prada: The Musical opens July 19 and runs through Aug. 21 at Broadway in Chicago's James M. Nederlander Theatre.

Watch John perform material from the show in PEOPLE's new video.

Hear more on all of today's must-see picks on EW's What to Watch podcast, hosted by Gerrad Hall.

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• Adrian Grenier addresses fans calling Nate 'the real villain' of The Devil Wears Prada