The world premiere of Identical, the major new British musical based on best-selling novel Lottie and Lisa and the two Disney films The Parent Trap, has been postponed for a year.
Co-produced by Nottingham Playhouse and Kenny Wax Ltd (producer of the Goes Wrong shows and Six) and directed by Trevor Nunn, the show was due to premiere at the Nottingham Playhouse from July ahead of a three-week run at Theatre Royal Bath in September.
Announcing the delay to the show’s debut, Wax said: “We remain as excited as ever to present this wonderful new show and we are announcing a postponement for one year until the health of the nation has improved.
“Identical is a story about the reuniting of twins separated shortly after birth and also the healing of a family which has been fractured. The narrative is a powerful message for the world right now. When its time comes and under the directorial genius of Sir Trevor Nunn, I have no doubt that it will be regarded as one of the great musicals of its generation.”
With music and lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, and a book by Stuart Paterson, Identical is inspired by Erich Kästner’s story of twin girls separated at birth who swap lives in an attempt to bring their divorced parents back together.
Commenting on their involvement in the project, award-winning writers Stiles and Drewe said: “It’s been a delight to adapt Erich Kästner’s hauntingly beautiful and timeless tale of two identical twins separated as babies, and their wily determination to stitch their family back together. It’s a story packed with wonderful humour and characters which makes it a great canvas to become a musical and retell for a 21st-century audience.”
Kästner’s 1949 book Lottie and Lisa has been the starting point for two hit Disney films. The first Parent Trap in 1961 starred Hayley Mills taking on the dual role of the twin sisters at the heart of the story with Maureen O’Hara and Brian Keith as the twins’ estranged parents. In 1998, director and writer Nancy Myers returned to the story with an updated version starring Lindsay Lohan in her feature film debut as the twins and Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson as their parents.
Angela Thomas
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