The Sorcerer's Apprentice musical to have world premiere at Southwark Playhouse in January 2021

Exclusive: New musical The Sorcerer's Apprentice will have its world premiere in London in January.

Penned by Richard Hough with composition and orchestrations by Ben Morales Frost, the piece is a gender-switched twist on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's classic poem of the same name (which later inspired the memorable scene from the film Fantasia).

Appearing in the show are Nicola Blackman (Destry Rides Again), Dawn Hope (Follies), Mary Moore (a recent graduate making her professional stage debut), Marc Pickering (Cat in the Hat), Yazdan Qafouri (The Band) and David Thaxton (Passion). Also appearing are Tom Bales, Ryan Pidgen, Vicki Lee Taylor and Kayleigh Thadani.

Directed by Charlotte Westenra (The Wicker Husband) and produced by James Seabright, the piece has musical direction by Alan Williams, choreography by Steven Harris, puppetry direction by Scarlet Wilderink, set and costume design by Anna Kelsey, lighting design by Clancy Flynn, sound design by Ella Wahlstrom, puppetry design by Maia Kirman-Richards and magic consultancy by Scott Penrose. The King's Head Theatre in north London is an associate producer.

Producer James Seabright commented, "I commissioned this musical five years ago, and have loved developing it since then through a series of workshops and a West End concert presentation of an earlier version in 2017, which led to the invitation from Southwark Playhouse to premiere the show at their venue in early 2021. I have decided to press ahead with these plans despite the challenges presented by doing so during the COVID-19 pandemic, as I think this magical story of renewal and the importance of family is especially timely.

"I have been inspired by the determination and resolve of our cast, creative team and everyone at the venue to make this possible whilst maintaining the highest safety standards for audiences and everyone on and off stage. I am also indebted to Arts Council England for a grant in support of making this possible on a socially distanced capacity of just 110 seats."

The Sorcerer's Apprentice runs from 9 January to 13 February.