''Bridget Jones' Diary'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Lily Allen, Greg Kurstin, and

Karen Poole Karen Ann Poole (born 8 January 1971) is an English singer and songwriter. Poole has had over 35 Top 20 UK hits as a songwriter. Biography Karen was born in Chadwell Heath, London, England, and is the daughter of 1960s vocalist Brian Poole, le ...

. The play is based on the 1996 book by

Helen Fielding Helen Fielding (born 19 February 1958) is an English novelist and screenwriter, best known as the creator of the fictional character Bridget Jones, and a sequence of novels and films beginning with the life of a thirty something singleton in Lo ...

and the 2001 film of the same name. The show was in development around 2009–2010 and has had several workshop readings, but no full performances.

Development

In early 2009, a partial production was first performed to a very small audience. As there was no music written for the show at the time, the performance consisted of only dialogue and a few spoken lyrics. The production featured a limited cast including Harry Enfield and British comedian

Victoria Wood Victoria Wood (19 May 1953 – 20 April 2016) was an English comedian, actress, lyricist, singer, composer, pianist, screenwriter, producer and director. Wood wrote and starred in dozens of sketches, plays, musicals, films and sitcoms over se ...

, each playing several parts. Although the script, penned by author of the original books,

, was considered very "raw" and incomplete in some places, the performance was praised by its audience. Representatives for the show's production company, ''

Working Title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

'', confirmed that Fielding had officially signed contracts releasing the rights for a musical production to go ahead. In early 2010, it was confirmed that Tony award-winning English theatre and film director and producer Stephen Daldry, and

Peter Darling Peter Darling (born 25 October 1963) is an English dancer and choreographer best known for his award-winning work in ''Billy Elliot the Musical''. In 2010 he choreographed ''Matilda the Musical'' at the RSC's Courtyard Theatre, which has since tr ...

would serve as director and choreographer, respectively. The pair had previously worked together on the successful West End and Broadway productions of '' Billy Elliot''. Lily Allen and Greg Kurstin then wrote the music and lyrics for the show. In April 2014, Allen cast doubt on whether the musical would be performed in an interview with

Popjustice Popjustice is a music website founded in 2000 by UK freelance music journalist Peter Robinson, who has worked for ''NME'', ''The Guardian'', ''Attitude'' and many others. It is composed of the work of editor Robinson, features editor Michael Cra ...

, saying "It's finished and it's brilliant. But I don't know if it will ever see the light of day."

Confirmed songs

*'If I Could Save Her From Her Sadness' ( Lily Allen, Greg Kurstin) *'Wanker!' (Allen, Kurstin, Poole) *'Happy' (Allen, Kurstin, Poole) *'Falling Over Myself' (Allen, Kurstin, Poole) *'YUMMY!' (Allen, Kurstin, Poole)

Production history

After a long period of development on the script and music, a workshop production of the show was held in London in early 2010 featuring

Sheridan Smith Sheridan Caroline Sian Smith OBE (born 25 June 1981) is an English actress, singer and television personality. Smith came to prominence after playing a variety of characters on sitcoms such as ''The Royle Family'' (1999–2000), ''Two Pints o ...

as Bridget Jones,

Bertie Carvel Robert Hugh Carvel (born 6 September 1977) is a British actor. He has twice won a Laurence Olivier Award: for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for his role as Miss Trunchbull in ''Matilda the Musical'', and for Best Actor in a Supporti ...

as Mark Darcy and

Julian Ovenden Julian Mark Ovenden (born 29 November 1976) is an English actor and singer. He has starred on Broadway and West End stages, in television series in both the United Kingdom and United States, in films, and performed internationally as a concert ...

as Daniel Cleaver. Smith appeared on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

's ''

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan K ...

'' on 3 August 2010 and stated that if a

West End theatre West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes, "West End" in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1 ...

production of the show were to go ahead, she would accept the title role.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridget Jones's Diary (Musical) Bridget Jones Musicals based on films Musicals based on multiple works Musicals based on novels Works based on Pride and Prejudice Musicals set in London 2009 musicals