Nanny McPhee said that she’d be around when we need her but do not want her. After this week, it’s probably fair to say that people both need and want a magical British nanny, and Emma Thompson has answered the call. This morning, it was announced that Nanny McPhee would return—now as a musical—to the London stage. Thompson, who wrote the screenplay for the 2005 film that introduced the character to a younger generation, will also write the musical. Thompson will write the show’s book and collaborate on the lyrics with the musician Gary Clark of the band Danny Wilson.
“I’ve lived with Nanny McPhee for so long that to see her finally tread the boards is supremely exciting. Theater feels like her natural home — magic, music, mischief and a good dollop of danger can all happen right in front of you,” said Thompson in a statement to Variety. “I can’t wait to introduce the all-new Nanny McPhee to audiences next summer.” This represents Thompson’s first major piece of theater writing, though she’s written a number of screenplays already, including for the 1995 film Sense And Sensibility and co-write 2016’s Bridget Jones’s Baby.
The Nanny McPhee musical will presumably be based mostly on the 2005 film (which we commented at the time positions itself nicely as the anti-Mary Poppins), though that movie is based on the character from the Nurse Matilda books, which were published from 1964 until 1974. Like Mary Poppins—another successful book to film to stage adaptation—the story follows Nanny McPhee as she comes to work at a home full of unruly children, though her story is set further back in time with more children and includes de-glamming makeup than you’re likely to find on a Julie Andrews character. The musical is slated to open in London next summer, and should be a success, perhaps Nanny McPhee can clean up some messes Stateside by the decade’s end.
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