Shakespeare in Love the Musical

The 1998 movie starred Joseph Fiennes, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Affleck, Rupert Everett and Dame Judi Dench and was the winner of 7 Academy Awards, and now Sonia Friedman and Disney Theatrical Productions are interested in producing a musical version of Shakespeare in Love which is reputedly opening in London's West End.

According to a report in Variety they have been holding meetings with Tom Stoppard and Jack O'Brien (who shared an original screenplay Oscar for the film with Marc Norman) as they want to collaborate with them plus designer Bob Crowley on the project. O'Brien's last direction in the West End was Andrew Lloyd's Webber's Love Never Dies.

Disney holds the rights to develop “Shakespeare in Love” which was produced by Miramax Films (at that part of the Walt Disney Company. Although Disney Theatrical would not comment on plans for the show, Variety’s Gordon Cox reports that it is targeting “a London launch”.