Practical Magic Musical in Development With Original Score by Norah Jones and Gregg Wattenberg

A new musical based on Alice Hoffman's bestselling novel and the Warner Bros. film of the same name, Practical Magic, is in development. The production will feature an original score by Grammy winners Norah Jones and Gregg Wattenberg, a book by New York Times bestselling author Alice Hoffman and Peter Duchan (Dogfight) and direction by Maria Friedman (Merrily We Roll Along). Mark Kaufman will serve as creative consultant.

In a statement, Hoffman said: “I’m so excited to be working with my amazing collaborators on bringing Practical Magic to the stage. This story of love and sisterhood is meant for the theater. Music is the heart and soul of Practical Magic, you can hear it as you read the book, even though it isn’t there. Now you will finally hear the story as I always imagined it. You will hear magic.”

For more than two centuries, the Owens women have been feared, blamed and whispered about in their small Massachusetts town. Orphaned as children and raised by their eccentric aunts, sisters Sally and Gillian Owens grow up determined to escape the ancestral curse they inherited. Choosing opposite paths, the sisters try to outrun their past, until love, loss and long-buried secrets pull them back together. Forced to confront their family legacy, Sally and Gillian must decide whether the past can be overcome—and how much they are willing to risk for love.

Practical Magic debuted as a New York Times bestselling novel by Hoffman in 1995 and was adapted into the beloved Warner Bros. film in 1998, starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. The enduring popularity of the story led Hoffman to expand the Owens family saga with three additional novels: The Rules of Magic, Magic Lessons and The Book of Magic. A highly-anticipated sequel to the film Practical Magic is set to premiere in cinemas on September 11, 2026.