Musicals/Stage shows

Various attempts have been made to put The Wicker Man on stage. Many never made to the stage.

4/29/95 - A London article mentions “manicurians” (Manchester residents) put on stage show of TWM and refused to be paid… at the Glastonbury festival?

## #1 Musical, Mr Shaffer along with Thierry Nihil

11/26/00

Musical

Mr Shaffer - along with Thierry Nihill,

Eventually to London’s West End via Toronto and NYC

http://www.playbill.com/article/sleuth-playwright-anthony-shaffer-is-dead-at-75-com-99620

At the time of his death, Mr. Shaffer was working on a stage version of his 1973 screenplay, "The Wicker Man," about the disappearance of a child on a Scottish island and the discovery of a modern pagan society there. Discussions with producers were under way when Mr. Shaffer took ill, according to Toronto playwright Thierry Nihill, who was co-adapting the piece with Mr. Shaffer. Canal + Films had given the greenlight for the property to become a stage play, and the project was to be called Anthony Shaffer's The Wicker Man. Nihill told Playbill On-Line that he will respect the wishes of Mr. Shaffer's wife and his representatives about the future of the project.

to get musical treatment

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12228079.Wicker\_Man\_to\_get\_musical\_treatment/

his blog

September 17, 2015

https://artyfaxcreativedotcom.wordpress.com/author/thierrypnihill/

What some of my friends and family know is that I was fortunate enough to have worked with the late Anthony Shaffer (playwright of Sleuth, Murderer, screenwriter of Frenzy and Sommersby) on adapting his landmark, cult classic 1973 film The Wicker Man into a stage project. We finished it – but his untimely death and subsequent court proceedings over his estate quashed any chance at mounting a workshop production (at least for now). We had started speaking to the Mirvish Company as well as the Nederlander Group and the Stratford Festival about the project, when Mr. Shaffer suddenly collapsed and died in Dublin, Ireland. That day was the darkest of my life: Mr. Shaffer was my mentor, and my friend. I miss his influence and guidance every single day.

1/6/16 Facebook

Thierry Nihill I should really mention this: two other men were absolutely instrumental in working with me right from the start of The Wicker Man stage adaptation project: Carl Bishop and Cameron Falkenhagen co-authored the book of the show and wrote all of the new music and lyrics for the initial project effort. If it wasn't for those two The Wicker Man wouldn't have ever gotten as far as it did - or still could go. Those two remain on the writer's credits and should my efforts to mount another run at producing it somehow (as long as Nic Cage keeps out this time and Canal Plus grants a Grand Rights licence), they will continue to be so.

Diane Cilento gave a script of this, a "final adaption script", to the Queensland University of Technology. More info here.

## #2 Wicker Man, The Musical 2008

2/8/08

Motion Group, Andrew Steggall - acquires uk rights

Robin Hardy working with him

Gary Carpenter too

Roger Ashton-Griffiths as the landlord

gets aborted…

Bristol Old Vic directed?

3/8/08

West End musical

workshop sessions start tomorrow in London

Lesley Mackie as May

6/11/09

Only half the investment shares have been sold

Hit stage in August in Scotland?

Previews listed…

Wikipedia:

A stage adaptation was announced for the 2009 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and was directed by Andrew Steggall. The production was based jointly upon Anthony Shaffer's original The Wicker Man script and David Pinner's novel Ritual. Robin Hardy gave input on the project, and original songs and music from the film were supervised by Gary Carpenter, the original music director. Workshop rehearsals were held at The Drill Hall in London in March 2008, and a casting call was held in Glasgow in May 2009. After three weeks at the Pleasance in Edinburgh in August 2009, the production was to visit the Perth Rep, the Eden Court Theatre in Inverness, and then have a short run at Citizen's Theatre in Glasgow, with hopes for a run in London in 2010. However, in July 2009 it was announced that the production had been cancelled, three weeks before it had been due to preview.

## #3 Foul Play Opera, San Francisco

Oct 9 - 25, 2008

Foul Play opera, San Francisco, CA

## #4 Andy Jorden Productions

2009

Andy Jordan Productions (see Facebook)

For Edinburgh Fringe 2009 and tour of Scotland

## #5 Copywrong/Almost Legal

2012

5/3-5/12, Lansdown Hall in Stroud

Almost Legal Productions

Copywrong Productions (https://www.facebook.com/copywrongproductions/)

They also filmed some segments, including some missing scenes!, and used some of them in a local tv show they made called Last Road. The best re-creations of the film I've seen.

The Wicker Man on stage Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8

Doing the Benny Hill Fireleap

The Wicker Man (uncaged) Fireleap

The Wicker Man (Uncaged) Trailer 1, Trailer 2, Trailer 3, Trailer 4

Twitter promo

Kickstarter page (failed)

## #6 - An Appointment With The Wicker Man

8/5/12, Edinburgh Festival

YouTube trailer Interview with the cast. A small part of the show. Meet the writers.

An Appointment With The Wicker Man - The Loch Parry Players

17/02/2012 - 26/08/2012 = 2/17/12 - 8/26/12

Vicky Featherstone

written by Greg Hemphill and Donald McLeary

Hemphill as LS

Sally Reid as Marie in a wooly nude suit

Sean Biggerstaff

got a review - 90 minutes is torture

An adaptation of cult Scottish horror The Wicker Man is aired at The Pleasance

A list of reviews: https://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/event/252065-an-appointment-with-the-wicker-man/

By Greg Hemphill and Donald McLeary. On a remote Scottish island, amateur theatre company @LochParryPlayer are rehearsing their stage version of cult film The Wicker Man. Their unique approach to this classic horror owes more to Glee than Christopher Lee, but as they say themselves – we’re all about the fun! Cast: Sean Biggerstaff, Jimmy Chisholm, Greg Hemphill, Johnny McKnight, Sally Reid, Paul Riley and Ros Sydney. ‘It was brilliant, just laugh laugh laugh all the way through’ (@FrankieBoyle). ‘LOVED #Wickerman. Like an adult panto. Silly, funny, weird. Cannot stop humming the songs…’ (@KirstyCooke1). Ages 14+. Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult. National Theatre of Scotland / The Assembly Rooms

Appointment with The Wicker Man

Appointment with The Wicker Man. National Theatre of Scotland tour, 2012 February 17-August 26. Poster

See the program here: front cover, synopsis, cast list and another page.

2/15/12

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/feb/15/wicker-man-musical-interview

 ...McLeary says. "I was disturbed to notice that my name appears handwritten on the side of one of the coffins." of the movie...(see Cast and Crew list here for more info on that) and … director Hemphill went to another casting session: the casting director there said his mother was Britt Ekland’s butt…

https://www.nationaltheatrescotland.com/production/appointment-with-the-wickerman/

Wikipedia

In 2011, the National Theatre of Scotland produced a related productionThe Wicker Man entitled An Appointment with the W(h)icker Man written by Greg Hemphill and Donald McCleary. The production has an amateur theatre company attempting to stage a Wicker Man musical.[68]

It also played at these theaters:

His Majesty's Theatre, Aberdeen, 2/21-25/12

Theatre Royal, Glasgow, 2/28 - 3/3/12

Eden Court, Inverness, 3/6-3/10/12

Alhambra Theatre, Dunfemilne, 3/21-3/24/12

Some of the costumes used.

## Newton Stewart Players version put on at the Ellangowan in the late 1990s.

More to come about this as we learn about it.