The Little Prince : Gordon / Lloyd Webber / Reid collaboration at Lyric Belfast Christmas 2011

THE LITTLE PRINCE joins opening season at the Lyric Belfast
Gordon / Lloyd Webber / Reid collaboration to be staged for Christmas 2011

The world premiere of a new musical adaptation of Saint-Exupéry’s THE LITTLE PRINCE by director Mick Gordon and composers Nicholas Lloyd Webber and James D. Reid will be the Christmas production in the opening season of The Lyric, Belfast’s new flagship theatre, announced at a press launch at Belfast City Hall today. THE LITTLE PRINCE is scheduled to preview from 1st December and run until 15th January 2012 at the new venue, which opens to the public on May 1st after a two year, £18.1 million rebuild, and will be presented by The Lyric Belfast and new production company Lamplighter Drama.

After receiving the approval of the Saint-Exupéry estate and the French publishers Editions Gallimard for the project, the creative team, including Belfast native Gordon, have been working on the book and score since last summer while they were collaborating on THE TEMPEST for Oxford Shakespeare Company. Casting details for THE LITTLE PRINCE have yet to be announced.

THE LITTLE PRINCE was published in 1943, a year before the aviator author died in the Second World War, and became an instant classic that appeals to adults and children alike and has been translated into 180 languages. It tells the story of a pilot crash landing in the desert who encounters a boy from an asteroid who tells him his adventures through the solar system and the characters he has met on the way.

LAMPLIGHTER DRAMA has been founded by Emma Randle (Executive Producer) and Charlotte Lloyd Webber (Executive Director) and is dedicated to the creation and production of new and imaginative theatre of many genres. Their name is inspired by their first production:

“Perhaps, the lamplighter is absurd. However… at least his work has some meaning. When he lights his streetlamp, it is as if he brought one more star to life, or one more flower. It is a beautiful occupation. And since it is beautiful, it is truly useful” (from The Little Prince, translated by Irene Testot-Ferry).

More info:
Lamplighter Drama and the Lyric Theatre Belfast present the World Premiere of
THE LITTLE PRINCE by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Music & Lyrics by Nicholas Lloyd Webber and James D. Reid
Book by Mick Gordon
Directed by Mick Gordon
Stage Design by Igor Vasiljev
Costume Design by Maja Mirkovic
Sound Design by Linus Fellbom
At the Lyric Theatre, 55 Ridgeway Street, Belfast, BT9 5FB
Run: 1st December 2011 – 15th January 2012.
Box Office (tickets on sale from Monday 24th January, 10am): (028) 9038 1081

Find out more about The Little Prince from Wikipedia here