Hit Family Show The Gruffalo Sets West End Holiday Run

The hit family musical The Gruffalo is headed back to London’s Apollo Theatre for a holiday run. The musical adaptation of Julia Donaldson’s picture book will run from November 25 to January 10, 2010, written and directed by Olivia Jacobs and Toby Mitchell of the company Tall Stories.

Since its 2006 premiere, the 55-minute-long show has been performed more than 3,000 times to the delight of 700,000 children ages three and up in the UK, Eastern Europe, the Americas and the Far East. The production features music by Jon Fiber, Olivia Jacobs, Robin Price and Andy Shaw, with design inspired by Axel Scheffler’s illustrations.

The storyline involves following a quick-thinking mouse into the deep, dark wood and discovering what happens when he comes face to face with wheeler-dealer Fox, an eccentric old Owl, a maraca-shaking Snake, and, of course, the Gruffalo.

In addition to the stage adaptation, Donaldson’s best-selling book is the subject of a star-studded BBC animation feature that will debut on Christmas Eve 2009. The 30-minute film includes the voices of Robbie Coltrane as the Gruffalo, Helena Bonham Carter as the narrator, Rob Brydon as the Snake, James Corden as the Mouse, John Hurt as the Owl and Tom Wilkinson as the Fox.