Norah Jones, the Grammy Award-winning songwriter known for such hits as “Don’t Know Why” and “Come Away with Me,” is turning her talents to the stage. With Grammy-winning producer Gregg Wattenberg, Jones is writing the original score for a stage adaptation of the 1998 film and 1995 New York Times bestselling novel “Practical Magic.”
Tony Award-winning producers Stephanie and Nicole Kramer and Brian and Dayna Lee, who are bringing the Olivier Award-winning play “Giant” to Broadway later this season, are shepherding the new musical, which is currently in development. Tony Award nominee and Olivier Award winner Maria Friedman is set to direct.
“Practical Magic,” which focuses on a pair of orphaned sisters descended from a long line of witches, will have a book by original author Alice Hoffman and the playwright Peter Duchan. Warner Bros. executive vice president and chief content officer Mark Kaufman will serve as a creative consultant.
“I’m so excited to be working with my amazing collaborators on bringing ‘Practical Magic’ to the stage,” said Hoffman in a statement. “Music is the heart and soul of ‘Practical Magic.’” Fans of the novel and movie, she promised, “will finally hear the story as I always imagined it.”
Jones is a ten-time Grammy winner who has sold more than 52 million albums. Her 2002 album “Come Away With Me” won Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist.
Wattenberg has co-written and/or produced eight songs that have topped the Billboard charts and many others that have made it to the top 10 and 20. Wattenberg is the founder and co-CEO of the Artist House music studio.
Friedman’s directorial work was seen on Broadway in the 2024 Tony-winning revival of “Merrily We Roll Along,” for which she was nominated for a Tony Award. Friedman has won three Olivier Awards for her acting.
Hoffman has written more than 30 books, including four novels set in the world of “Practical Magic.”
Duchan, a former Dramatists Guild fellow, wrote the book for the Off-Broadway musical “Dogfight,” which won the 2013 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical. He also served as script consultant for the Broadway musical “Waitress” and as a creative consultant on “Lempicka.”
Kaufman, who supervises Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures, most recently served as an executive producer on the Broadway revival of “Beetlejuice.” He is a creative consultant on the upcoming musical adaptation of “The Lost Boys.”
The film “Practical Magic” starred Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as sisters Sally and Gillian Owens, orphaned as a result of a family curse which they themselves are forced to face as adults. A sequel based on the fourth volume in Hoffman’s “Practical Magic” series is set to premiere in cinemas on Sept. 11, 2026.
Further details about the development of the “Practical Magic” musical, including a debut production and casting, are still to be announced.
