Disney Winnie the Pooh – The New Musical Stage Adaptation
A new Adventure is About to Happen…
Created and directed by Jonathan Rockefeller
Featuring Music by The Sherman Brothers
with additional songs by A.A. Milne
Performances begin at Theatre Row on October 21, 2021
Pre-Sale Tickets beginning June 1, 2021
New York: Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood, a new adventure is about to happen. Disney’s iconic Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin, and their best friends Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Rabbit and Owl (and Tigger too!) will all arrive on stage in a new beautifully-crafted musical stage adaptation.
The new show will feature the Sherman Brothers’ classic Grammy Award-winning music with additional songs by A.A. Milne. In a new story from the Hundred Acre Wood, this fresh stage adaptation is told with stunning life-size puppetry through the eyes of the characters we all know and love.
Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical Adaptation is developed and presented by renowned family entertainment creator Jonathan Rockefeller (whose spectacular puppetry is omnipresent in the acclaimed productions of The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show and Paddington Gets in a Jam). Performances will take place at Times Square’s Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street) beginning October 21, 2021.
Winnie the Pooh is partnering with TodayTix.com for an exclusive ticket pre-sale beginning June 1, 2021. General on-sale tickets begin June 14, 2021 at WinnieThePoohShow.com
“I am thrilled to be entrusted to create a new classic for the stage, for new audiences as they join our adventure into the Hundred Acre Wood. And what a grand adventure! Disney’s Winnie the Pooh material is so incredibly rich, that after more than half a century, I doubt there is anyone who hasn’t been profoundly moved or feels a personal connection with the wonderful characters of Pooh. The question we posed ourselves when creating this intimate musical adaptation was, ‘How do we bring Pooh from the screen and onto the stage in an entirely fresh and new way, yet one that still pays homage to the deep canon of Winnie the Pooh iconography?’ The answer was easy… well, conceptually easy, in theory… we needed to create incredible, brilliant and amazing puppetry that makes it impossible to believe the characters aren’t real. Audiences can expect their hearts will be captivated by the characters, and their imaginations will soar with these life–size puppets.” Jonathan Rockefeller, Rockefeller Productions
To register for the Pre-Sale, or learn more about the show, please visit www.WinnieThePoohShow.com
ABOUT THE SHOW
Winnie the Pooh has been enjoyed by millions of readers and viewers ever since English author A.A. Milne first chronicled the adventures of Christopher Robin’s friends in the Hundred Acre Wood in 1926. The books, featuring illustrations by English illustrator E.H. Shephard, have sold over 50 million copies worldwide. The theatrical rights to the Pooh stories were acquired by Disney in 1961, with an original intent to produce a feature film; but after production began, Walt Disney decided to make short featurettes instead. The three featurettes were subsequently incorporated into the feature The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. This was the last film in the Disney canon in which Walt Disney had personal involvement. The first featurette, Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, was released during his lifetime; while Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day was still in development. Disney’s Winnie the Pooh has since become one of the best-loved and most successful franchises in history.
The Sherman Brothers are the multi-talented Oscar and Grammy Award-winning American songwriting duo of Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman. The Sherman Brothers wrote more motion-picture musical scores than any other songwriting team in film history. Among these are the Disney classics Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, Bedknobs and Broomsticks and The Aristocrats. The Sherman Brothers worked directly with Walt Disney on two of the first Winnie the Pooh featurettes: Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (which garnered a Grammy Award nomination) and Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day. The brothers won a Grammy Award for the third featurette: Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too. All three featurettes were incorporated into the 1977 musical film The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The duo also wrote songs for Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore and The Tigger Movie, with their music also featured in the movie Christopher Robin.
Jonathan Rockefeller and Rockefeller Productions embraced the challenge of re-imaging Disney’s Winnie the Pooh for a new audience by bringing it to life on stage in puppet form. The company has garnered global accolades, from critics and audiences alike, for their production of The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show, with 14 productions playing on 4 continents. An extended run of the show in New York City culminated in Drama Desk and Off-Broadway Alliance nominations, as did their production of Paddington Gets in a Jam, which tours China and the US later this year. Other projects include Elmer the Patchwork Elephant, which plays on three continents, Mr. Men and Little Miss Show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the award-winning short film, 10 Little Rubber Ducks, written by preeminent author/illustrator Eric Carle.
Produced in association with Disney Theatrical Productions.
