Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic is headed to the stage, Deadline reports.
Hoffman’s novel, published in 1995 by Putnam, follows Gillian and Sally Owens, sisters who are sent to live with two witchcraft-practicing aunts in Massachusetts following the death of their parents and are greeted with suspicion by the townspeople. As adults, they move away, but later reunite after Sally’s abusive ex-boyfriend dies. A critic for Kirkus wrote of the book, “Sally and Gillian are appealing characters, but, finally, their story seems as murky as one of the aunts’ potions—and just as hard to swallow. Too much hocus-pocus, not enough focus.”
Hoffman wrote three follow-ups to the original book: two prequels, The Rules of Magic and Magic Lessons, and a sequel, The Book of Magic. Practical Magic was adapted into a 1998 film directed by Griffin Dunne and starring Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Dianne Wiest, and Stockard Channing. A sequel to that film, based on The Book of Magic, with Bullock, Kidman, Wiest, and Channing all reprising their roles, is set to premiere in September.
The book for the stage adaptation will be written by Hoffman and Peter Duchan (Dogfight), with Maria Friedman (the 2023 revival of Merrily We Roll Along) directing. The songs will be written by multiple Grammy Award winner Norah Jones with Gregg Wattenberg.
“I’m so excited to be working with my amazing collaborators on bringing Practical Magic to the stage,” Hoffman told Deadline. “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.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
