LONDON • British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber will open a new show, Cinderella, in London in September, in a production described as "a complete re-invention of the classic fairy tale".

The show, for which Lloyd Webber has written a new score, is based on an original idea by British actress and writer Emerald Fennell, producers said.

Fennell was the scriptwriter for the second season of television thriller Killing Eve (2018 to present) and also features in season three of Netflix royal show The Crown (2016 to present).

She has written and directed the thriller Promising Young Woman, starring Carey Mulligan, set for a cinema release this spring.

"I have long wanted to write my own version of Cinderella, but could never find a take on the classic story that really grabbed me," Lloyd Webber - who is famous for theatre musicals such as Cats and The Phantom Of The Opera - said in a statement.

"Emerald Fennell has written something truly exciting and original, and the moment I read her outline, I knew I'd found my latest collaborator," he said.

"I'm very pleased to be working with David Zippel, a hugely witty lyricist, once again," he added.

Laurence Connor, who previously worked on other Lloyd Webber shows, will direct Cinderella, which will run at the Gillian Lynne theatre in London's West End.

Lloyd Webber's stage adaptation of comedy School Of Rock is currently showing at the same theatre until early March.

REUTERS