Carmel Dean announced as composer for
musical adaptation of acclaimed novel The
Ghost and Mrs. Muir
Carmel Dean (music director/arranged: Funny Girl (revival), Broadway; The Notebook, Broadway) will be writing music and lyrics for London’s up and coming musical adaptation of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.
The acclaimed romantic-fantasy novel The Ghost and Mrs. Muir by R.A Dick is being adapted for the stage as a new musical. Carmel comments, Being asked to write the score for this much beloved book is truly a dream come true. The story is sweeping and epic, full of mystery, humour, and of course romance, and lends itself perfectly to being musicalized for the stage. I can’t wait to bring it to life in collaboration with the rest of this brilliant and passionate team!
Producer Scott Ihrig (Producer, Drama Club Productions, Drama Club Camp, and The Radio City Christmas Spectacular) comments Carmel brings strong women to life in music and on the stage. These are the type of stories the world needs more of these days – and I’m excited to be working with such an amazing team of women writers to bring this book to a new medium and new audiences.
Under the direction of Kenneth Hoyt (The Blue Hour of Natalie Barney, Arcola; The Sea Plays, Old Vic Tunnels, Founder and Artistic Director Provincetown REP) this exciting project will see a full read through in London in September 2024 before it takes to the stage in 2025. The show’s book comes from novelist and playwright Penelope Faith (Novels: Hello, Mr Magpie / From A Past Life. Plays: Nothing To See Here, Arcola / Not Now, But Now, Canal Cafe Theatre. Audio: Dark Shadows, Dr. Who, Big Finish). Richard Roland (Broadway’s Follies, Scarlet Pimpernel, and Thoroughly Modern Millie, Prof. of Musical Theatre at Indiana University) serves as Associate Director with Raymond Sage (B’way Camelot, Beauty and the Beast, Artistic Director-Penn State NU Musical Theatre Festival , Prof of Musical Theatre- Indiana Univ) as Creative Consultant.
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir is a timeless ghost-infused romance between newly widowed Lucy Muir and the ghost of Daniel Gregg, a sea captain. Through this uncommon companionship, Mrs. Muir learns to find liberation from her grief and loneliness, showcasing the boundless nature of true love, and its ability to transcend this life and beyond.
The show is adapted from the original novel of The Ghost and Mrs Muir that was written by Josephine Leslie in 1945. She wrote under the pseudonym R.A Dick, taking the initials from her sea captain father Robert Abercromby. It was generally accepted that male novelists had a greater chance of having their work published with an increased likelihood of both sales and success.
The story was an immediate sensation and was quickly acquired by 20th Century Fox. The film starred Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison. It is widely considered to be one of the most classic love stories of all time and the film has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The novel was adapted several times as a radio play, most interestingly in a 1951 version starring Charles Boyer and Jane Wyatt. It was re-imagined once again into a well-loved TV series in 1968.
Further information is available at www.theghostandmrsmuirmusical.com.