Hit New York musical The Secret Life of Bees is finally getting its UK premiere.
The Almeida Theatre in London will premiere the show next year, in a production directed by Whitney White (What to Send Up When it Goes Down).
The musical will run at the Almeida from 4 April to 27 May 2023.
And there is hope of a life after the Almeida! – although there is no official word on this yet. However, West End producer Sonia Friedman is involved with funding and producing the show, along with American film producer Lauren Shuler Donner, Broadway producer Marianne Mills and American director and producer Robert Cohen.
The show is set in 1960s South Carolina, where two girls flee their small town and seek salvation at a remote honey bee farm run by the remarkable Boatwright sisters.
The Secret Life of Bees is written by playwright Lynn Nottage, composer Duncan Sheik and lyricist Susan Birkenhead, and is based on the best-selling novel by Sue Monk Kidd.
Casting or the full creative team is yet to be announced.
Also in 2023, the Almeida will transfer its successful production of Peter Morgan’s Patriots starring Tom Hollander to the West End, starting at the Noel Coward Theatre in May 2023. Ahead of their production of The Doctor starring Juliet Stevenson, starts its run at the Duke of York’s Theatre in September.
Other shows announced in the Almeida’s 2022-2023 season include Cabaret director Rebecca Frecknall directing Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, starring Lydia Wilson, Paul Mescal and Anjana Vasan; and Tammy Faye, a new musical from Elton John, Jake Shears and James Graham, starring Katie Brayben, Andrew Rannells and Zubin Varla.
Main photo: The Secret Life of Bees – Atlantic Theater Company New York production- Photo by Ahron R. Foster
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