A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L’Engle’s beloved and acclaimed children’s book classic, is being developed as a stage musical, producers announced today.
The adaptation will feature music and lyrics by Obie Award-winning composer Heather Christian (Oratorio for Living Things), book by Lauren Yee (Cambodian Rock Band) and direction by two-time Obie Award winner Lee Sunday Evans (Dance Nation).
Dates for productions, as well as additional creative team members, will be announced in 2023.
Although seven current play adaptions of Wrinkle are available for license, in addition to television and film adaptations, the new project will mark the first musical version of the novel and the first Broadway production of any kind.
The project has been shepherded by Charlotte Jones Voiklis, L’Engle’s granddaughter and director of her literary estate. She’ll produce along with Diana DiMenna and Plate Spinner Productions, and Aaron Glick.
“Knowing my grandmother’s love of and devotion to theater, I had long envisioned a musical adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time that could transport audiences to a different dimension in a way only music can,” said Voiklis in a statement. “I am inspired by this creative team who truly love and understand the original novel and yet are ready to explore the possibilities of what it could be on the stage.”
Voiklis said composter Christian “masterfully layers meaning with her unique voice and story-telling compositions,” and described book writer Lee’s work as “inventive and lyrical plays, many of which explore the relationships between generations, make her the perfect match to write the story for the stage.” Director Evans, she said, “is known for helming emotionally potent new plays and musicals that boldly re-invent familiar story-telling conventions and forms.”
This year is the 60th Anniversary of A Wrinkle in Time. The book tells the story of Meg Murry, who is transported on an adventure through time and space with her younger brother and friend to rescue her scientist father from the evil forces that hold him prisoner on another planet.
The novel won the coveted Newbery Medal, and was adapted most recently by Ava DuVernay for the 2018 Disney film version with Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Levi Miller, Storm Reid, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Michael Peña, Zach Galifianakis, and Chris Pine.
“We are thrilled to create a truly magical theatrical experience of this beloved story for multigenerational audiences to savor,” added producer DiMenna. “A Wrinkle in Time‘s themes of fierce love, loyalty, kinship, and friendship are universal balms for the soul, and will draw audiences into a collective adventure of bravery and triumph.”
In a joint statement, Yee, Christian, and Evans said, “A Wrinkle in Time is a wildly imaginative and deeply emotional story of a young woman searching for her father and discovering that her capacity to love and be connected to the people around her is her superpower. So much of the book feels gloriously impossible to stage — tessering through time and space, the chilling of world Camazotz and the indescribable ways of communicating on other planets in the universe — which is exactly why we’re thrilled to adapt this story into a musical. We’re so inspired by this iconic book and can’t wait to invite audiences to gather in a theater to experience this moving, bold story told with all the electric magic of live performance.”
A Wrinkle in Time has sold over 10 million copies and remains one of the National Education Association’s “Teachers’ Top 100 books for children.”