Rehearsal images have been released for The Pianist, the first musical to be drawn from Wladyslaw Szpilman's memoir and to build itself around the composer's own music. It opens at the Park Theatre in October, after four nights in Southampton.
The first pictures from the rehearsal room for The Pianist were released this morning, a fortnight before the production gives its first performance. It is a world premiere twice over: the first stage musical adapted from Wladyslaw Szpilman's memoir, and the first time his own compositions have been asked to carry the story rather than sit behind it.
The production plays Park Theatre in Finsbury Park from 15 October to 28 November 2026, with the national press night on Thursday 22 October. Ahead of London it runs at Mayflower Studios in Southampton from 9-12 September.
Daniel Krikler leads the company as Wladyslaw Szpilman, with Rosalind Ford as Mother, Oliver Grant as Hosenfeld, TJ Holmes as Father, Mischa Jardine as Janina, Elżbieta Kalicka as Regina, Nitai Levi as Henryk, Melania Maggiore as Halina and Max Roll as Gimpel/Majorek. Oliver Magor and Erin Rowlatt complete the ensemble. The company are actor-musicians, and the rehearsal photography is by Rich Southgate.
The adaptation is written and directed by Thom Southerland, who staged Titanic the Musical. New arrangements, musical supervision and orchestrations are by Simon Lee, for many years Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical director.
Szpilman is known worldwide through the memoir and Roman Polanski's Academy Award-winning film of it, but he was also one of Poland's most celebrated composers and pianists, and it is that half of the life this production goes after. The so-called "Polish Gershwin" wrote the popular songs that had Warsaw humming, and the score sets them against the concert halls and cafes of Jewish Warsaw before the war.
New lyrics come from an international group of writers and musicians: two-time Grammy nominee Carol Connors, songwriter David Batteau, jazz singer Wendy Lands with Jim Gillard, Grammy-nominated Michael Ruff, and the composer's son Andreas Szpilman, with whom the production is presented by special arrangement.
The creative team is completed by Karen Bruce (choreography and movement direction), Andrzej Goulding (set and video design), Jonathan Lipman (costume design), Robbie Butler (lighting design), Gareth Tucker for Autograph Sound (sound design), Malcolm Forbes-Peckham (musical direction) and Josh Whatsize (assistant direction), with casting by Ginny Schiller CDG and Ben Armstrong. Wolk Transfer Company and Willette Klausner produce, with executive producing and general management by DEM Productions.
Performances run Monday to Saturday at 7.30pm, with Thursday and Saturday matinees at 3pm. There is an audio-described performance on Friday 6 November at 7.30pm, with a touch tour from 6.30pm. Age guidance is 11+.
The Pianist runs at the Park Theatre from 15 October to 28 November 2026, following its run at Mayflower Studios, Southampton, from 9-12 September.
