The Book Thief musical announces West End concert – with initial casting revealed

WhatsOnStage Award winner Melanie La Barrie will star as Death in a special one-night concert staging of The Book Thief. 

The production marks the first London outing for the musical, based on Markus Zusak’s internationally bestselling novel, which has sold over 16 million copies worldwide. Further casting is to be announced.

With a libretto by Jodi Picoult (My Sister’s Keeper) and Timothy Allen McDonald (James and the Giant Peach), and music and lyrics by Kate Anderson and Elyssa Samsel (Central Park, Olaf’s Frozen Adventure), the piece follows Liesel Meminger, a young girl living in Nazi Germany, whose world is transformed by her love of books and storytelling.

The show will run at the Prince of Wales Theatre on Sunday 19 October 2025.

Director and choreographer Tom Jackson Greaves (The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry) will helm the London concert performance, following on from Lotte Wakeham’s original direction for the world premiere at Bolton Octagon in 2022 and subsequent runs in Coventry and Leicester in 2023.

The creative team also includes orchestrations and musical supervision by Matthew Malone, set and costume design by Good Teeth, lighting design by Nic Farman, sound design by Sound Quiet Time, casting by Abby Galvin, and musical direction by Natalie Pound.

Speaking about the production, Picoult and McDonald said: “This show is the right story at exactly the right time. To have Melanie La Barrie leading the company as Death is a dream – her immense talent has given us so many colours we can paint with.”

Producers Emily Lunnon and Ramin Sabi added: “We couldn’t be more excited for Tom Jackson Greaves’ genius staging to propel the show through its next steps, to a new audience and beyond.”

The concert performance of The Book Thief is produced by Deus Ex Machina Productions, Writers’ Cage and Andrew Paradis in association with Bethany Cooper Productions.