For the first time in Paul McCartney's career, he is taking a step into the world of theater. For the past year, he has been working on a stage musical adaptation of the 1946 Frank Capra film It’s A Wonderful Life.
McCartney is penning the music and lyrics alongside screenwriter and playwright Lee Hall. Bill Kenwright is serving as the producer on the show.
“Writing a musical is not something that had ever really appealed to me,” McCartney said in a statement. “But Bill and I met up with Lee Hall and had a chat and I found myself thinking this could be interesting and fun. It’s A Wonderful Life is a universal story we can all relate to.”
Once Kenwright was offered the rights to the film by Paramount, he immediately thought to reach out to McCartney to see if he would be interested in writing the music. Kenwright recalls after reaching out the musician, “Out of the blue I got an email from Paul asking my thoughts on his first stab at an opening song.”
“Working with Paul on It’s a Wonderful Life is a dream realized,” Kenwright added.
Hall said, “To give it a life on the stage is an immense privilege in itself but to do with Paul McCartney is off the scale. Paul’s wit, emotional honesty and melodic brilliance brings a whole new depth and breadth to the classic tale. I feel as if an angel must be looking after me.”
Currently, the production is anticipated to premiere in the U.K. in late 2020 which may be followed by a move to Broadway.
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Article image: Paul McCartney performing in December 2018. (Raph_PH [CC BY 2.0] via Wikimedia Commons.)
