The Time Traveller's Wife Tickets

By: Lauren Gunderson
Music: Joss Stone and Dave Stewart
Director: Bill Buckhurst
Cast list: David Hunter, Joanna Woodward, Tim Mahendran, Hiba Elchikhe, Ross Dawes
Design: Anna Fleischle
Choreography: Shelley Maxwell
Lighting: Lucy Carter, Rory Beaton
Sound: Richard Brooker

Although a time-travelling husband sounds like a science fiction plot, the show is a romance first and foremost. The Time Traveller’s Wife musical takes the London stage to celebrate the deep complexities any relationship has and how unconditional devotion can overpower them.

Niffenegger’s maternal grandparents inspired this premise. When her grandfather died young, her grandmother lived for another three decades without ever getting remarried. Niffenegger wanted to relay how infinite love is tested when something out of the couple’s control happens.

Since being published in 2003, The Time Traveller’s Wife novel has sold over 8 million copies worldwide. Twenty-five literary agents originally rejected the hugely successful novel, yet it’s now one of the most well-known romance stories of this century.

What to Watch For

• It took Niffenegger almost five years to write this bestseller. In 1997, the author, who was also an illustrator at the time, thought of the phrase “time traveller’s wife.” She began questioning how a relationship involving a time traveller would work, if the wife would be forever lonely, and how they would meet. She decided this was a perfect book plot — and she was right!
• A sequel to the novel, titled The Other Husband, has been in the works for several years. It is expected imminently; the exact date is unknown.
• The successful release of the swoon-worthy book inspired a film of the same name. Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams star as Henry and Clare, with Robert Schwentke directing. Theo James and Rose Leslie later starred in a 2022 TV miniseries adaptation.
• The 2009 film originally tapped Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston to play the lead roles. The real-life former couple got divorced prior to filming, so they were recast, but Pitt became an executive producer of the film.
• Dave Stewart co-wrote the score for Ghost: The Musical, but this is the first time he and Joss Stone collaborated on a musical. The pair previously worked together to form the one-off supergroup SuperHeavy with Mick Jagger, Damian Marley, and AR Rahman.