Author Jodi Picoult stages The Book Thief musical as a 'cautionary tale'

Source of image, Ray Jefferson

American author Jodi Picoult says Broadway won't stage her new musical version of Markus Zusak's beloved novel, The Book Thief. So it's more like his world premiere in Bolton.

For years Picoult has seen his books adapted for stage and screen by other people, not always with happy results.

So she felt an added responsibility after Zusak agreed to let her turn her 2005 bestseller into a young girl in Nazi Germany into a musical.

"Part of what I said to Markus, when I pitched this idea to him, it's, 'Look, I just went through this process with my own work,'” she says. "'I'll take care of your baby, because I know how it feels.'

"And because of that, I feel like to have an added responsibility to be true to the story, message and emotions he created in his beautiful novel."

She adds: " There's not a small part of me that's terrified because he's coming from Australia to see the production."

Image source, Don Arnold

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