IN THE WILLOWS: THE MUSICAL – Studio Cast
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
I absolutely love it when someone takes a classic and turns it on its head to make it even more accessible to young theatregoers. Metta Theatre has done just that, in collaboration with Perfect Pitch, with their hip-hop version of Wind in the Willows, called In The Willows.
In The Willows transforms Kenneth Grahame’s well-loved tale into a thrilling new hip hop musical, written and directed by P Burton-Morgan (Little Mermaid UK tour, Jungle Book UK and international tour), with music and additional lyrics from award-winning composer Pippa Cleary (The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Ambassadors Theatre; Prodigy, St James Theatre) and ground-breaking hip-hop composer Keiran Merrick.
P Burton-Morgan, who in 2020 won the Writers Guild of Great Britain Award for musical theatre book writing for In The Willows explains: “This is not Disney. These animal students are recognisably human, young and for the most part abandoned by the rest of society. Their teacher Badger is one of the few adults who believes in them and in their potential to achieve. They are by turns angry, lost, mischievous but ultimately searching for a sense of belonging – a new family made up of their fellow classmates.”
In this reworking, the story follows Mole’s first day in The Willows. As she learns more about the ways of the riverbank from Mr Badger and streetwise Rattie, rich kid Toad and cheeky Otter, her dark secret is getting closer to being revealed by Chief Weasel.
The cast on this album is headed by the wonderful Clive Rowe, assisted impeccably by Harry Jardine, Hiba Elchikhe, Sharon Rose and Tim Mahendran. The tracks are: ‘Easy Life’, ‘Walk into the Fire’, ‘Between You and Me’, ‘Animal’, ‘Head Above Water’ and ‘Oh Child’
From the very first track you are transported into the land of The Willows and you know there is no turning back. It is a delightful rollercoaster from the very beginning, taking you through some very dark spots… but that makes it an even more exciting listen. It’s going to make a really great stage show once again when things get back to some normality and I am sure it will open up musical theatre to a younger generation.
Nick Wakeham
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