Bedknobs and Broomsticks - bringing a world of wonder and magic to the stage in Leeds

The world premiere was held in Glasgow last month and now the stage version of the much-loved story is on at Leeds Grand Theatre.

Candice Edmunds and Jamie Harrison are the co-directors of Vox Motus, who have been tasked with bringing Bedknobs and Broomsticks to the stage for the first time.

Edmunds and Harrison are award-winning theatre-makers whose previous shows include Slick, Dragon and Flight.

“They wanted the title to be put in the hands of people who were going to do something slightly different,” says Harrison. “For us it was the perfect match. It fits the type of story we were looking for and it allows us as a creative partnership to run riot. It’s full of opportunities to be inventive with the staging and to bring magic to life.”

The pair have been working together for 20 years and they thrive on bringing challenging projects for the stage. “We really enjoy coming up with solutions to a tricky staging moment and Bedknobs and Broomsticks was full of them,” says Harrison.

“The biggest one was the bed. Before the show opened a lot of people were asking ‘does the bed fly?’ and ‘how do you make it fly?’ and ‘how will they make it work?’

“So developing those moments was really good fun.” You will, of course, have to see the show to find out how they do it.

For generations of families, Bedknobs and Broomsticks is a classic story and it’s 50 years since the much-loved film, starring Angela Lansbury as Miss Eglantine Price and David Tomlinson as Emelius Browne.

Despite the film’s enduring popularity, Harrison says they were given free rein to put their own stamp on the project. “It was great for us because we were given a lot of freedom to adapt and interpret it for the stage. Nobody asked us to make a carbon copy of the film on stage which as a theatre maker is what you’re looking for. You want to spin it so it catches the light slightly differently.”

The story revolves around the three orphaned Rawlins children who are reluctantly evacuated from wartime London to live with the mysterious Eglantine Price.

They discover that Eglantine is a trainee witch but before they know it, she is casting spells on their bed and sending them skywards on a magical adventure, and armed with an enchanted bedknob, a bewitched broomstick and a magical flying bed, they encounter surprising new friendships on their journey into a world of magic and fantasy.

The new stage musical features original songs by the legendary Sherman Brothers including Portobello Road, The Age Of Not Believing, and The Beautiful Briny, alongside new music and lyrics by Neil Bartram.

“The Sherman brothers’ music that was written originally is really strong and catchy and beautiful, and actually quite a lot of it was cut from the original film release so we were very excited to hear that for the first time,” says Harrison.

They then also worked with composer Bartram on additional music. “The biggest compliment paid to his work on the show is that people can’t tell the difference between the Sherman brothers’ songs and his work, which proves what a brilliant job he’s done.”

Harrison says different aspects of the show presented different challenges. “Step in the Right Direction was a huge challenge because it’s this fantastic song and we knew we had to find stellar performers who could deliver the songs, but also deliver the characters and the technical challenges that we knew we wanted to achieve.

“In Step in the Right Direction, the script says ‘she wrestles with her broom’ and ‘she climbs on the broom and flies up into the sky’. So Candice and I started dancing ideas back and forth about how we might achieve that and then I sat down and did the illusions designs for it.

“We knew we needed a performer who was going to be excited about bringing this idea to an audience and who was brave enough and resilient enough to go through the process of learning how to fly on a broom and Di Pilkington (who plays Miss Eglantine Price) was absolutely brilliant and smiled her way through it.”

And Harrison is delighted at what has been created for the stage. “It has been genuinely joyful… it’s all consuming production for everybody involved,” he says. “Yes, there are lots of challenges but Disney felt like this was a good time for this particular story to be put on stage, and they’ve been proven to be right. The audiences have been flocking in and really enjoying the production.”

Disney has already enjoyed huge success with its stage version of The Lion King (it’s due to tour in Yorkshire next year). In 2014 The Lion King became the most financially successful production of all time, taking £3.8bn at the box office – more than any other theatre or film release.

So in that sense a marker has been set, though Harrison is quick to play down comparisons. “When you’re given a title from Disney you certainly feel pressure from that absolute masterpiece production, and all you can do is bring your own voice and your own vision and aesthetic to the piece and hopefully if Julie Taymor saw it she would enjoy it and appreciate the creativity involved.”

With the pandemic still very much here, for Harrison and Edmunds and all those involved, the fact they have been able to bring the show to people has been a triumph in itself.

“The theatre industry has had a really tricky time the last 18 months and opening this show with such a beautiful and magical storyline for an audience that hasn’t been in a theatre for so long was a really special moment. It was very emotional for everyone in lots of different ways,” says Harrison.

And what is behind the story’s enduring appeal? “First and foremost it’s about magic and we all love magic, we all love to be caught up in a world of the impossible where wondrous things happen. But I think the thing that gives Bedknobs and Broomsticks particular longevity is that really it’s about family and connection, and what it is to be a family.

“It’s full of magic, escapism and delightful uplifting moments that we all feel we need at the moment.” He adds: “I hope people come out singing the songs and saying to each other ‘how did they do that?’”

Disney’s Bedknobs and Broomsticks runs at Leeds Grand Theatre until Jan 2. https://leedsheritagetheatres.com/