Carrie Hope Fletcher is set to star in a brand new version of Cinderella with a score by Andrew Lloyd Webber will open at the Gillian Lynne Theatre from May 2021.
Fletcher is known for her musical stage performances in Les Miserables, which she returned to in 2019 to appear in the All-Star concert before returning to the full West End production, and Heathers the Musical, in which she played the lead character, Veronica Sawyer.
Cinderella will feature an original book by the Emmy Award-nominated screenwriter Emerald Fennell, who is best known for leading the script of season two of BBC's Killing Eve, as well as appearing on screen in Netflix's The Crown, playing Camilla. Lloyd Webber has written the new score which has lyrics by David Zippel. It will be the second time the English composer has partnered with American lyricist - whose other musical work includes City of Angels and Disney's Hercules - since The Woman in White in 2004.
In an article from The Stage, Andrew Lloyd Webber is looking to open Cinderella with 75% seating capacity. "I have taken the view, as far as Cinderella is concerned, that I am not going to change any plans at the moment." When discussing the capacity arrangements, Webber did state that Cinderella could open with a smaller audience, but theatres need to get to 100% as soon as possible.
The musical is directed by Laurence Connor with choreography by JoAnn Hunter, reuniting the creatives after working together on Lloyd Webber's musicals School of Rock and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Connor's other musical work includes Chess and Miss Saigon in the West End.
Workshop performances of Cinderella were staged for three nights at The Other Palace in May 2019, with Mark Shenton commenting on its "confident, funny, fresh and sassy contemporary take on such a classic tale." The workshop performances featured Carrie Hope Fletcher in the titular role, alongside Tyrone Huntley, Victoria Hamilton-Barritt, Sophie Isaacs, Rebecca Trehearn and Ruthie Henshall.