LIfe-size puppets bring a new look to children's favourite Winnie The Pooh in musical touring to Sheffield and Nottingham

Alex Cardall as Eeyore, Robbie Noonan as Tigger, Benjamin Durham as Pooh and Lottie Grogan as Piglet in Winnie the Pooh (photo: Pamela Raith)

Children’s storybook characters are brought to life in a stage adaptation of Winnie The Pooh that is touring to theatres in Sheffield and Nottingham.

Inspired by the beloved books by A. A. Milne and the classic Disney featurettes, the production features life-size puppets in a new story from Hundred Acre Wood.

An original score by Nate Edmondson features some of the Grammy award-winning songs written by the Sherman Brothers for the original animated features, including Winnie the Pooh, The Blustery Day, The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers and Whoop-De-Dooper Bounce, plus A.A. Milne’s The More It Snows (featuring music by Carly Simon) and Sing Ho in a new arrangement.

Winnie The Pooh: The New Musical Adaptation visits Sheffield’s Lyceum Theatre from June 20 to 22 and Nottingham’s Theatre Royal from June 28 to July 1, 2023.

Robbie Noonan and Benjamin Durham in Winnie the Pooh (photo: Pamela Raith)

The role of Winnie the Pooh is played by Benjamin Durham (Young Frankenstein), and the much- loved characters of Eeyore, Piglet, Rabbit, Owl, Kanga and Roo are brought to life by an ensemble of performers, including Laura Bacon (Britain’s Got Talent, Star Wars), Harry Boyd (The Play That Goes Wrong, Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story), Alex Cardall (Evita, The Osmonds: A New Musical), Chloe

Gentles (Mamma Mia!, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical), Lottie Grogan (Smurfs Save Spring: The Musical, The Lips for Puppets with Guys) and Robbie Noonan (Avenue Q UK tour, Jack and the Beanstalk).

Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical Adaptation is developed and presented by Jonathan Rockefeller whose spectacular puppetry is omnipresent in the acclaimed productions of The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show, Paddington Gets in a Jam and Sesame Street the Musical.

Millions of readers and viewers have enjoyed Winnie The Pooh ever since English author A.A. Milne first chronicled the adventures of Christopher Robin’s friends in the Hundred Acre Wood in 1926.

The books, featuring illustrations by English illustrator E.H. Shepard, have sold more than 50 million copies worldwide.

The theatrical rights to the Pooh stories were acquired by Disney in 1961, with an original intent to produce a feature film, but after production began, Walt Disney decided to make short featurettes instead. The three featurettes were subsequently incorporated into the feature The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. This was the last film in the Disney canon in which Walt Disney had personal involvement. The first featurette, Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, was released during his lifetime, while Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day was still in development. Disney’s Winnie the Pooh has since become one of the best-loved and most successful franchises in history.