It’s been almost 70 years since it first aired, but finally someone is adapting iconic anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents for the stage. As a musical, obviously.
Last week, we found out a jukebox musical based on 2001 classic A Knight’s Tale is coming to the Manchester Opera House next year.
“Fine”, we said, with more genuine enthusiasm than a monosyllabic statement implies. Queen, David Bowie, and people poking each other with lances. They could get the War Horse people in to do the jousting (as far as we know, they haven’t, but we’re fairly sure someone wrote down how they did it). As the popular media to stage musical pipeline goes, that one makes a lot of sense. Sounds very fun, too.
Now, however, we have been intrigued, perplexed, bamboozled and filled with suspense (suspensed? Suspended?) by the news that Theatre Royal Bath Productions are adapting a far less likely-looking property for the board-treading classes. Alfred Hitchcock Presents – The Musical is coming to, you guessed it, the Theatre Royal Bath in 2025. This time, with original songs.
According to Whatsonstage, the show will be directed by Tony Award winner John Doyle (Company) and will feature an original, jazz-infused score by Steven Lutvak and a book by Jay Dyer.
Famed for its iconic title sequence and Hitchcock’s own wry introductions to each episode, the anthology series originally ran on CBS and NBC between 1955 and 1965, and was revived for a further four seasons between 1985 and 1989.
Producers of the original musical have promised a “unique theatrical journey inside the mind of Alfred Hitchcock”. Considering TV anthologies aren’t usually the first place people go when looking to adapt IP to the stage, unique is almost certainly the word.
Whether the show will adapt specific stories from the TV series or invent its own Hitchcockian tales for the people of Bath is yet to be seen. We’ll await more details with bated breath.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents – The Musical will run from 22nd March to 12th April 2025.
