Hansel & Grettel

Brave the Woods, Outsmart the Witch, and Find Your Way Home.

Paul Boyd's musical of Hansel & Grettel has been regularly staged since it premiered in 1997 and has consistently been one of Paul’s most successful productions across Ireland and the USA.  Now it is set to return to the UK in an all-new version that features updated music and songs and a revised book.

 The very first production of Hansel & Grettel was in 1997 at the Riverside Theatre in Coleraine (in Northern Ireland), and featured Paul in the role of Hansel and Irish writer and broadcaster Tara Flynn (who fifteen years later would appear in the original cast of Paul’s musical Molly Wobbly’s Tit Factory) as Grettel.  The original 1997 cast also featured Laurence Connor as Fats the Frog; Laurence is now best known as a director of musicals having staged, among other things, the national tours of Phantom of the Opera and Jesus Christ Superstar, the West End revival of Miss Saigon, the Broadway/West End musical School of Rock, and Andrew Lloyd-Webber's Bad Cinderella.

 The show’s second production, produced by the Lyric Theatre Belfast in 1999, broke box office records, and featured vocals performed by West End and Broadway star Rachel Tucker.

In February 2008 Hansel & Grettel enjoyed its USA premiere at Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in a hugely successful new staging by Dreamchild Productions which was later revived at Miramar Cultural Center, Florida, in November 2009 in a version co-produced with Broward Center for the Performing Arts.

 In 2010 Paul Boyd directed a new staged concert version of Hansel & Grettel, premiering the show’s first extensive script and music revisions in thirteen years, at the New Wimbledon Studio in London.  Paul then directed the Lyric Theatre Belfast’s 15th Anniversary production of Hansel & Grettel which ran from 2nd December 2012 - 13th January 2013.

 The show returned to the UK stage in December 2024 in a revised version featuring additional songs and an updated score; Hansel & Grettel was produced by The Stage 100 Award winners Creation Theatre (who had great success with Paul's The Tale of the Beauty and the Tail of the Beast in 2022/23) at Oxford's North Wall Theatre from 1st December 2024 until 4th January 2025.

Synopsis

Deep in the heart of the woodland, hidden by shadows and surrounded by trees, the Witches of Winter rise from the frozen earth ...

 Centuries before Harry Potter ventured into The Forbidden Forest, generations before Elphaba flew over the skies of Oz, a mysterious, ancient witch - the Priestess of Winter - lies fast asleep, waiting to be wakened by light of the Winter Moon.

On the edge of the town, two young children, Hansel and Grettel, live with their parents in a run-down cottage.  With the arrival of the first frost they know the cold season has begun, the season when their mother hears voices in her head, compelling her to leave the children deep in the woods; the Priestess of Winter has invited them for dinner.

Paul Boyd's acclaimed stage musical Hansel & Grettel, based on the world’s best-loved fairy-tale, has been a hit all around the world since it was first produced with help from Cameron Mackintosh back in 1997.  

Hansel & Grettel is a magical, musical adventure for all ages - the original tale of the very first wicked witch - featuring a host of witty characters, enchanting incantations, and a celebrated score of musical numbers that culminates in the show’s famous Megamix finale that has had audiences all around the world dancing in the aisles!