Theatre News

Emma Thompson reveals her ”Nanny McPhee” musical is ‘scheduled to open in the West End in 2023’

Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson
© Dan Wooller

She may be in the midst of promoting the eagerly anticipated Matilda musical movie, but Emma Thompson already has other plates spinning.

The Love, Actually star has revealed to the New Yorker that she is putting plans in motion to premiere her long-awaited Nanny McPhee musical, “scheduled to open in the West End in 2023.”

Based on the much-loved film franchise Thompson starred in, which in turn was based on the Nurse Matilda character by Christianna Brand, the musical has tunes by Gary Clark, who penned the hit songs for Sing Street.

Thompson has described the music in the piece as a “cross between the Tiger Lillies and Tom Waits’s ‘Swordfishtrombones.'” She herself intends to write the book, co-write the lyrics and direct the show.

Dates, venues and creative team members are to be revealed (director Katy Rudd led the workshops so is likely to lead the final production), with the show having conducted a series of workshops (also featuring Thompson’s sister Sophie) over the last couple of years.

We await more information about the show.

Sign up for our newsletters for more