It has been announced that a new musical based on Audrey Niffenegger and the New Line Cinema film screenplay by Bruce Joel Rubin is in the works.
Set to premiere in the UK in late 2021 or early 2022, The Time Traveller’s Wife is set to feature original music and lyrics by Joss Stone and Dave Stewart and additional lyrics by Kait Kerrigan and book by Lauren Gunderson.
Henry and Clare’s love story is like no other and yet like all others; they meet, flirt, fight, love, marry… but all out of order. Henry is often and uncontrollably ripped out of time, because he suffers from a rare condition where his genetic clock periodically resets, pulling him into his past or future, vanishing before one’s eyes, never knowing where or when he’s going next. Except he knows he’ll always come back to Clare, whether she’s 5 years old playing in a field or 85, dreaming of her time-travelling husband.
Set to be directed by Bill Buckhurst, with musical supervision & arrangement by Nick Finlow and illusions by Chris Fisher, The Time Traveller’s Wife is based on the 2003 debut novel by Audrey Niffenegger.
Talking about adapting the story for the stage Lauren Gunderson said: “I will never forget reading the last chapter of Audrey Niffenegger’s book over ten years ago and being floored by its thunderous emotion and potent humanity. I knew this love story belonged on stage with music and vision that matches its emotional punch and soaring feeling. I know this musical will lift, delight, hearten and exhilarate.”
The musical is set to be produced by Colin Ingram for InTheatre Productions who said: “Bringing this book to the stage was my wife’s idea, as, for her and so many others, The Time Traveller’s Wife has been a significant and deeply cherished story. Having Henry constantly appearing and disappearing throughout the story (with his age changing each time, backwards and forwards) requires this stellar creative team, and this show promises to be an incredibly emotional experience for the audience. Lauren’s adaptation is truly wonderful and the soulful sound of Dave and Joss’s music will lift everyone’s spirits as a truly wonderful tonic in post-pandemic world.”
Meanwhile talking about their collaboration, Dave Stewart and Joss Stone said: “We have been on many crazy adventures together but we’ve never ‘Time Travelled’ till meeting Lauren Gunderson. Writing these songs together whilst being in different locations on different time zones has been a trip (literally), throwing us into an eddy of emotive melodies and heart-wrenching lyrics to go with the push and pull of this unusual love story. We all time travel in our relationships and in our lives in general, but to write something that people will see and hear happening live on stage is thrilling to imagine, and hearing Bill Buckhurst’s interpretations of Lauren’s script for stage as we went along has been so inspiring.”
To sign up for more information about the musical visit: https://timetravellerswife.com/