Theatre: Bringing the Disney magic home with Bedknobs and Broomsticks

Growing up, Candice Edmunds can vividly recall the feeling of magic and excitement she felt while watching Disney classic Bedknobs And Broomsticks.

Now she feels that same sense of magic and excitement again as a new stage adaptation of the family film is brought to life and is about to be performed in Glasgow – with Candice as the show’s director.

She and co-director Jamie Harrison were headhunted by Disney executives after Vox Motus, the Glasgow theatre company they created after graduating from the Royal Conservatoire in 2002, put on a well-received show in New York.

“We made a show called Flight, which had a big international life and a couple of years ago it was presented in New York for three months. Disney Theatrical came along to see it and that started a conversation of what we might work on together, which was a massively exciting conversation to be having,” Candice explained.

“Bedknobs And Broomsticks was a huge part of both of our childhoods and when we discovered the wheels were in motion to turn it into a stage production, and they asked if we were interested in looking at it as directors, it was a no-brainer.

“We loved it so much and had a strong sense of what we could do with it.

“Originally, Disney imagined making it for the American market, but as it developed there was a move to open it in the UK, which I think made more sense given the content of the story.”

The film, which was released 50 years ago this month, sees three children evacuated from London to Dorset during the Second World War, where they go to live with an apprentice witch, played by Angela Lansbury.

Candice continued: “The big thing for me as a kid was that the film felt truly magical in the sense of Angela being this witch who could make a bed fly. It was real magic to me as a kid, and that is something we have tried to hold on to, that sense of awe and magic being in the character’s fingertips.

“Jamie has a great track record of putting illusions and magic into shows – he was the magic and illusion supervisor for Harry Potter And The Cursed Child – so audiences can definitely expect some greatly executed illusions.”

So, too, can they expect some memorable songs. “When I think of the film from childhood, I don’t think of it as a big musical, but this is,” said Candice.

“The score is beautiful and you come away singing all the tunes. It was originally written by the Sherman Brothers, who were also writing Mary Poppins at the same time, so there is a shared DNA.

“Our composer, Neil Bartram, has expanded the film score into a big lush musical and added in some new pieces.”

Candice, originally from Queensland in Australia, met Jamie while they were studying acting at the Royal Conservatoire and both decided they wanted to pursue a career on the other side of the stage.

“I remember arriving here and being so inspired by all the exciting companies and new work that was coming out of Glasgow.

“I wanted to be a part of that vibrant theatre-making legacy being built in the city and Jamie felt the same,” Candice added.

“We agreed we would try to make our own work and started after graduating.

“We put one foot in front of the other and kept being ambitious, and eventually it took us to New York and having a conversation with Disney.

“Now I can’t wait to sit in the King’s and experience it with the best audience in the UK.”

Bedknobs And Broomsticks King’s Theatre, Glasgow, Tue-Sat, His Majesty’s, Aberdeen, Nov 17-21, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Jan 19-23.