A Disney musical, a Screen-to-Stage Adaptation of the 1971 film Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
After losing their parents in an Air Raid, three siblings are evacuated to the countryside. Charlie, Carrie and Paul are somewhat reluctantly taken on by the mysterious Miss Price, despite her insistence that's she's working on the war effort.
They quickly discover that Miss Price is a witch, and she enrolled in a magic correspondence course in the hopes of preventing the deaths of soldiers through the use of magic- specifically, Substitutiary locomotion- a spell to give life to inanimate objects, to have them serve as soldiers against an upcoming invasion force she has forseen.
Except that her correspondence course is ended before the spell arrives, resulting in her deciding to take the children to find Professor Browne and get that spell before it's too late.
Premiered August 2021 in a UK tour.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Alternate Ending : Charlie reveals It Was All Just A Dream But the three end up going home with Miss Price and Mr Browne anyways, in Miss Price's motorcar with her broomstick shaped package, so there's an element of Or Was It a Dream?
- Adaptational Jerkass : King Leonidas. The prize of the Briny Ballroom dance competition is an audience with the king- except it's less an audience, and more the king's dinner.
- Adaptation Name Change : The Isle of Naboombu is now The Island of Nopeepo.
- Big Brother Instinct: Early on, Charlie, the eldest of the Rawlins, physically shields his younger brother and sister from an air raid.
- Chekhov's Skill: Mr Browne's signature trick- the Great Switcheroo.
- Color Motif : Eglantine's magenta coat ensures she's the brightest spot on the stage- as do her cullottes. And purple is the color of magic. Mr Browne's suit is also a purplish-red, but more subdued and often hidden under a cloak or coat. at the end, Miss Price is clothed in a rich green coat and green plaid dress. Still the most vibrant on the stage, but in a different way to before.
- Crowd Song : Portabello Road is an ensemble number, even moreso than the film.
- Hidden Depths : Miss Price knows how to dance- waltz, tango and samba! As she tells Mr Browne, she was young once.
- No Swastikas : Not only no swastikas, while it's clear from the context that the setting is WWII, there's no mention of Nazis or Germans- only the enemy.
- Portmanteau: The Rawlins are fond of these- there's a Wond-adventu-witch (a wonder, adventurer, witch), murkilated (murky and isolated), and most notably, Negotiality, a song with two reprises (a negotiation in actuality)
- Pragmatic Adaptation: Their time in Nopeepo doesn't have a soccer match- hard to manage on stage even if the animals weren't puppets
- Promoted to Parent: Charlie declares, as Head of the Family, he'll be the one deciding what to do. When Carrie argues, he points out he's the oldest.
- Punny Name : A location rather than a person- The Island of Nopeepo, where there are no people allowed.
