Rumi musical with Nadim Naaman – first listen

The piece is inspired by the life of the acclaimed poet from which the show takes its name and his relationship with his mentor Shams Tabrizi, featuring lyrics from Rumi's poetry. It is based on a story by Evren Sharma.

Co-composed by Dana Al Fardan and Nadim Naaman and directed by Bronagh Lagan, the show has orchestrations and arrangements by Joe Davison, with vocal arrangements by Nikki Davison, choreography by Anjali Mehra, Middle Eastern musical supervision by Maias Aylamani.

Full casting and the full creative team will be announced soon, with the company set to star Ramin Karimloo (as Shams Tabrizi) and Naaman (Rumi), alongside Casey Al-Shaqsy (Kimya) and Soophia Foroughi (Kara), as well as an orchestra with at least 25 players.

Naaman said: "We were so thrilled with the response to the release of the Rumi concept album earlier this year, and to its unique qualities as a piece of theatre. I am so grateful that we now have live performances to look forward to, particularly after the challenges we have all faced as an industry in the recent past. We are hugely grateful to everyone at English National Opera for welcoming Rumi onto the majestic stage of The London Coliseum."

The show is running on 23 and 24 November 2021.