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''Freaky Friday'' is a
musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...
with music by Tom Kitt, lyrics by
Brian Yorkey Brian Yorkey is an American playwright and lyricist. His works often explore dark and controversial subject matter such as mental illness, grief, the underbelly of suburbia, and ethics in both psychiatry and public education. Early life Yorkey ...
, and a book by
Bridget Carpenter Bridget Carpenter (born in New York City) is a television writer and playwright. Biography She received an M.F.A. from Brown University in 1995.Rodriguez, Bill"Bridget Carpenter swings into Trinity" providencephoenix.com, May 11–18, 2000 Her pl ...
. It is based on the 1972 novel of the same name by
Mary Rodgers Mary Rodgers (January 11, 1931 – June 26, 2014) was an American composer, screenwriter, and author. She wrote the novel ''Freaky Friday'', which served as the basis of a Freaky Friday (1976 film), 1976 film starring Jodie Foster, for which sh ...
and its
1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...
,
1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...
, and
2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...
film adaptations. In the story, when an overworked mother and her teenage daughter magically swap bodies, they have just one day to put things right again before the mom's wedding. A
film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...
was released on
Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
in 2018.


Productions

The ''Freaky Friday'' musical was developed by Disney Theatrical Productions from the book and Disney films for theatres to license. The musical debuted at the Signature Theatre in
Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...
on October 4, 2016. Direction was by
Christopher Ashley Christopher Ashley (born July 6, 1964) is an American stage director. Since 2007, he has been the artistic director of La Jolla Playhouse. Career Ashley graduated from Yale University in 1986, with a Bachelor of Art in Theatre.Sergio Trujillo Sergio Trujillo is a Colombian-American theater director, choreographer, dancer, and actor. Born in Colombia and raised in Toronto, Canada, he is an American citizen and resides in New York City. Trujillo was nominated for the 2016 Tony Award fo ...
.
Heidi Blickenstaff Heidi Blickenstaff (born December 28, 1971) is an American actress and singer based in New York City best known for playing a version of herself in the musical '' itle of show' during its Off-Broadway and Broadway runs, as well as for originati ...
and Emma Hunton led the cast. In 2017, the show was slated for the next season at
La Jolla Playhouse La Jolla Playhouse is a nonprofit professional theater on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. History La Jolla Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Mel Ferrer. In 1983, it was revived under the ...
, the Cleveland Playhouse and Houston's Alley Theater and opened there in January, again with Blickenstaff and Hunton starring. Blickenstaff and Hunton then appeared at the
Cleveland Playhouse Cleveland Play House (CPH) is a professional regional theater company located in Cleveland, Ohio. It was founded in 1915 and built its own noted theater complex in 1927. Currently the company performs at the Allen Theatre in Playhouse Square ...
from April 15 to May 20 and at the
Alley Theatre Alley Theatre is a Tony Award-winning theatre company in Houston, Texas. It is the oldest professional theatre company in Texas and the third oldest resident theatre in the United States. Alley Theatre productions have played on Broadway at Lin ...
, Houston, Texas, from June 2 to July 2. The musical was presented in Norfolk, Virginia in December by the Virginia Musical Theatre and in Atlanta, Georgia by the Horizon Theatre Company. Coinciding with the release of the
Disney Channel Original Movie Since its launch on April 18, 1983, American cable and satellite pay television channel Disney Channel airs and/or releases/distributes original first-run television films under the banner names of Disney Channel Premiere Films until October 1 ...
(DCOM) adaptation, a one-act version of the stage musical (featuring all the songs used in the DCOM adaptation) was made available on August 10, 2018 for licensing. According to ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'', "presently there are plans to transfer the show to Broadway, the door is also now wide open for licensing for professional, regional, and amateur productions around the country". The musical will have its UK premiere at
HOME A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...
,
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
from 27 November to 31 December 2025, directed by
Andy Fickman Andrew John Fickman (born December 25, 1970) is an American film director, filmmaker. His credits as a theater director include the premiere of the Reefer Madness (musical), ''Reefer Madness!'' musical, the first Los Angeles, California, Los Ang ...
and produced by Paul Taylor-Mills.


Plot

;Act I The musical opens with Ellie Blake telling the audience about the worst 24 hours of her life ("Just One Day"). Her mother, Katherine, is a wedding planner who is getting married the next day while simultaneously arranging her own wedding. Ellie is resentful towards her brother, Fletcher, for annoying her; and her soon to be stepfather, Mike, for being overbearing. Ellie's friends, Gretchen and Hannah, want her to join them in The Hunt, a scavenger hunt that involves traveling around the city all night. Katherine forbids it because The Hunt is the same time as the rehearsal dinner. This leads to a confrontation between Ellie and Katherine that ends with a magical hourglass being broken and the two switching bodies ("The Hourglass"). They try to switch back but the magic only works when the hourglass is whole. Ellie suggests using the hourglass's twin as a replacement. Katherine reveals that she sold the hourglass's twin, a present from her late husband, to help pay for her catering business. The two decide that they have to pretend to be one another until the second magical hourglass can be found. Both think that the other's life is easier and each one is confident she will do a better job ("I Got This"). Ellie has to be interviewed by Danielle for Weddings Magazine about her upcoming ceremony. She relies on Katherine's assistant, Torrey, to answer most of the questions and fabricates a story of how she operates her business ("What You Got"). She starts an impromptu party in the kitchen that destroys the wedding cake. Katherine attends Ellie's school and realizes how difficult Ellie's school life is with harsh teachers and a bully named Savannah. Katherine meets Adam and her teenage body's chemistry makes her feel attracted to him ("Oh, Biology"). Mike arrives at the house to get ready for the rehearsal dinner and is interviewed with Ellie about their beautiful flowers. Ellie does not know anything about him and the interview goes terribly. Mike decides to read his vows to "Katherine" and she is repulsed by him, confusing everybody present ("Vows"). Ellie and Katherine discover secrets about each other. Ellie discovers her mother smokes cigarettes and Katherine discovers her daughter has a lower back tattoo. Ellie's friends and their parents also discover each other's secrets leading to mutual distrust ("Busted"). Ellie and Katherine also discover that each has kept a memento signifying their former close relationship. A parent/teacher conference is called to discuss Ellie's many absences and outlandish behavior. During the conference, Mrs. Luckenbill reveals that Ellie's behavior got worse after her father died. Ellie shrugs this off while Katherine realizes how busy she has been lately, taking no time for her daughter and marrying a man before giving her daughter time to grieve ("Somebody Has Got to Take the Blame"). Before they can discuss this further, Katherine is taken to gym class by Ms. Meyers. After Ellie picks up Fletcher from his school, she discovers that the pawn shop her mom sold the hourglass to has closed. Fletcher inspires her to put the hourglass on the list for The Hunt. This way every student at Ellie's school will be looking for it and once it is found, they can switch back. Ellie texts Katherine to ask Adam, who is in charge of The Hunt, to make the hourglass one of the scavenger hunt's items. Katherine tries to ally herself with Savannah, who is a champion of The Hunt, in hopes of getting to the item first. Gretchen and Hannah feel betrayed by "Ellie" and Adam refuses to add the hourglass as it wouldn't be fair to the other competitors. All the while, Ms. Meyers is giving Katherine a strenuous P.E. exam and Katherine ultimately fails ("Watch Your Back"). Fletcher tells his "mom" how excited he is to have a new dad. The cynical Ellie reveals how many times his parents have lied to him about things in his childhood while also lamenting how her father promised he would never leave her, only to die ("Parents Lie"). All of the guests arrive for the dinner rehearsal while Ellie and Katherine's lives begin to fall apart. Gretchen and Hannah kick "Ellie" off of the team for working with Savannah. Torrey quits because of the immense pressure about the Weddings Magazine article and trying to replace the destroyed wedding cake. "Katherine" tells Mike that she may call off the wedding. Fletcher is furious at his family and he decides to run away from home. The wedding guests discover Fletcher has run away and wonder what tomorrow will bring ("Just One Day (Reprise)"). ;Act II All of the wedding guests band together to find Fletcher while Ellie, Katherine, and Torrey lament to the audience how wrong this day has gone ("Not Myself Today"). Fletcher sits at the bus stop waiting to take him to Las Vegas. Adam comes across Fletcher and tells him how he was angry with his family when he was younger but reconciled with them because they ultimately love each other. Adam and Fletcher bond over how crazy their families can be ("Women and Sandwiches"). Mike calls the police to look for Fletcher. The officers do not listen to Katherine thinking she is just a teenager. They inundate Ellie with questions who realizes that she doesn't know her brother that well. The officers jump to the worst possible conclusions, worrying the entire family ("Bring My Baby (Brother) Home"). Adam arrives with Fletcher after having convinced him to come home. "Katherine" tells Adam that the hourglass was a gift from Ellie's late father and he decides to put it on the list, seeing how important it is to her. Gretchen and Hannah ask "Ellie" to come back to the team and forgiveness for their hastiness. Ellie gives Katherine permission to go on The Hunt while she stays behind to fix the wedding. Adam announces the items for The Hunt over the phone and all of the students run around the city looking for them ("Go"). Ellie tries to convince Danielle to stay, promising that nothing will go wrong at the wedding. Ellie convinces Torrey to return to work and Mike replaces the wedding cake with seven-layer bars. Danielle is invited to help out and she decides to give them one more chance. They stay up all night ensuring that the wedding will be perfect for tomorrow morning. Fletcher is tired out and Ellie sings him to sleep and emotionally connects with him for this first time in years ("After All of This and Everything"). Savannah's team and Ellie's team become tied for the lead with the only item remaining being the hourglass. They find the hourglass at Mrs. Time's Watch Shop and are able to retrieve it. Savannah arrives and blackmails Mrs. Time into giving her the hourglass. This leads to a physical altercation over the hourglass with Katherine breaking Savannah's nose and stealing it back ("No More Fear"). Katherine arrives at the house before the wedding ceremony commences. Katherine and Ellie try to switch places, only for the hourglass not to work ("The Other Hourglass"). Both of them worry about living in the other's body for the rest of their lives. Katherine tells Ellie to call off the wedding with Mike until they can fix this. Ellie delivers an impassioned speech about how difficult her family's lives have been since her father's death. It wasn't until Mike came into their lives that Katherine became happy once again. Once Ellie says "I love you", the hourglass begins to glow. Katherine and Ellie grab hold of the hourglass and affirm their love for each other, switching back to their original bodies. Ellie and Katherine realize how difficult each other's lives are and decide never to take the other for granted. Katherine marries Mike and the wedding party celebrates ("Today and Ev'ry Day").


Musical numbers

A Studio Cast album featuring Blickenstaff and Hunton was released on February 10, 2017. ;La Jolla Playhouse ; Act I * "Just One Day" – Ellie, Katherine, Company * "I Got This" – Ellie, Katherine, Adam, Savannah, Students, Teachers * "What You Got" – Katherine, Torrey, Danielle, Louis * "Oh, Biology" – Ellie, Adam, Wells, Savannah, Gretchen, Parker, Students * "Vows" – Mike * "Busted" – Ellie, Katherine, Adam, Gretchen, Hannah, Savannah, Wells, Parker, Parents, Students * "Somebody Has Got to Take the Blame" – Katherine, Ellie, Dr. Ehrin, Señor O’Brien, Mrs. Luckenbill * "I Got This (Reprise)" – Katherine * "Watch Your Back" – Ms. Meyers, Ellie, Adam, Gretchen, Hannah, Students * "Parents Lie" – Katherine * "Just One Day (Reprise)" – Company ; Act II * "Not Myself Today" – Katherine, Ellie, Torrey, Company * "Women and Sandwiches" – Adam and Fletcher * "Bring My Baby (Brother) Home" – Katherine, Ellie, Mike, Officers * "Go" – Adam, Ellie, Gretchen, Hannah, Wells, Parker, Company * "After All of This and Everything" – Katherine * "No More Fear" – Ellie * "Today and Ev’ry Day" – Ellie, Katherine, Company ;Studio Cast recording released on February 10, 2017 digitally and February 17 physically. ; Act I * "Prologue" * "Just One Day" * "The Hourglass" * "I Got This" * "What You Got" * "Oh, Biology" * "Vows" * "Busted" * "Somebody Has Got to Take the Blame" * "Watch Your Back" * "Parents Lie" * "Just One Day (Reprise)" ; Act II * "Not Myself Today" * "Women and Sandwiches" * "Bring My Baby (Brother) Home" * "Go" * "After All of This and Everything" * "No More Fear" * "The Other Hourglass" * "Today and Ev'ry Day"


Characters and original cast

;Casts of major stage productions:


Reception

The ''Variety'' reviewer called the Signature Theatre production a "delightfully spunky musical... Delivered at a lively pace."


Television adaptation

A
Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
and Disney Theatrical Productions
television adaptation An adaptation is a transfer of a work of art from one style, culture or medium to another. Some common examples are: * Film adaptation, a story from another work, adapted into a film (it may be a novel, non-fiction like journalism, autobiography, ...
of the stage musical premiered on August 10, 2018. Blickenstaff reprises her role as the mother, Katherine, while
Cozi Zuehlsdorff Cozi Noelle Zuehlsdorff (born August 3, 1998) is an American actress and singer, best known for her role as Hazel Haskett in the movie ''Dolphin Tale'' (2011) and the sequel, ''Dolphin Tale 2'' (2014). She appeared in ''Mighty Med'' as Jordan, ...
stars as the daughter, Ellie. Carpenter adapted the musical as a teleplay, while Kitt and Yorkey oversaw the music and lyrics. The TV adaptation was produced by Susan Cartsonis and Thomas Schumacher.


References

{{Disney Theatrical Productions 2016 musicals Freaky Friday Adaptations of works by Mary Rodgers Musicals based on films Musicals based on multiple works Musicals based on novels Musicals by Brian Yorkey Musicals by Tom Kitt (musician) Disney Theatrical Productions musicals