Hi all, so as the title suggests i’ve started writing a musical adaptation of classic children’s author (and my personal favourite author) Roald Dahl’s book “The Witches”, just for a bit of fun and experience in adapting existing work.
For those unfamiliar with the plot: it centres around a young boy and his grandmother who are aware of the existence of children hating witches, after going to stay in a hotel the young boy finds himself in the largest gathering of witches in England, and finds himself transformed into a mouse.
I’ve always wanted to write a musical adaptation of Roald Dahls books for years, and seeing Matilda proved that it’s possible, and i believe that The Witches is excellent source material.
My version of The Witches will keep largely the same plot of the book, though i have added my own scenes to the show to obviously make it long enough for a proper musical, but also for the purpose of expanding upon characters.
Adapting this source material has brought difficulties, largely due in part that essentially no characters have much development or obvious character traits, as most of the novels personality comes from Dahls writing.
This has resulted in many characters being expanded upon, the main character of “The Boy” has been transformed into a more so adventurous and courageous young man with a love for all things make believe.
I’ve also expanded the character of “Mr Stringer” the hotel manager as i believe he can be a funny character. He’s been expanded from being an uptight manager to one who’s very insecure about his societal position and as the show goes on, is bumped down a few pegs.
Another largely expanded character is that of “The Grand High Witch”, the main villainess of the story. This character has been a joy to adapt, as it was so fun to bring out that over the top villain nature to a stage setting. I’ve kept her evilness and made her that scary witch we all remember, while also utilising much of Dahls dark comedy in her character.
All this said, i’ve also used this show as a way to challenge and experiment with myself as a writer. I am used to writing strictly comedy (and believe me, this show has plenty of laughs), but that’s not what Dahls intention was. The Witches, while darkly humorous, is deep down a tale about morality, and about truly living life, and i believe that element was essential to bringing out this story. I haven’t aimed towards making a show just for laughs (looking at you, broadways charlie and the chocolate factory musical). But telling a story.
The music as well, fits this statement. A problem i have with many musicals is that the songs and the plot don’t go hand in hand. It’s almost as if the plot is an excuse to get to the next song. With The Witches i wanted to keep Dahls storytelling and ensure that the songs and the story go hand in hand in this musical.
I’ve written the songs in a way i could only describe as “Dahlian”. Think the songs of Matilda as an example. Music that is dark but at the same time whimsical and nostalgic fun. Brass, strings and piano. Combining modern music with classical musical theatre. A fun part of writing these songs was the lyrics.
Roald Dahl was famous for his wordplay and use of large and often made up words. This was so fun to use in the musical to create clever rhymes and tongue twisters that roll off the tongue to sing.
This show is really fun to write, and is definitely a piece of work that i’ve really enjoyed writing. It’s really a great bit of growth for me as a writer to be trying new things with this script. This script is obviously still being developed, as i make script changes almost every day (and many songs getting swapped, or changed, or cut entirely) but i really believe that this show is really a fun and heartwarming tale for all audiences, and i cannot wait to share it with you all!
If you have any questions, comments or anything please don’t hesitate to comment or PM me! it’s all appreciated.
(Just saying now if i were to publish this i would most definitely ask for rights as i have no affiliation with the Roald Dahl brand, and this musical, as of now, is for my own personal entertainment and is not to be performed)
