Paul McCartney Wrote a Musical Version of a Classic Christmas Film
Paul McCartney has written a classic Christmas song, and now he’s hoping to write music for one of the most beloved holiday movies. McCartney explained that a theater producer reached out to him about possibly collaborating on a musical version of It’s a Wonderful Life. McCartney has been working on the project for years, but he said he hopes to see it come to the stage soon.
Paul McCartney has plans to write music for a Christmas film
In 2016, theater producer Bill Kenwright reached out to McCartney about a musical version of It’s a Wonderful Life. McCartney was uncertain at first, but the idea began to grow on him.
“Like many of these things, this all started with an email,” McCartney told The Guardian in 2019. “Bill had asked if it was something I might be up for. Writing a musical is not something that had ever really appealed to me, but Bill and I met up with Lee Hall and had a chat and I found myself thinking this could be interesting and fun.”
Lee Hall, the author of Billy Elliot, was going to write the show’s book and some lyrics. He said the idea of working with McCartney was a dream.
“[It’s a Wonderful Life] has absolutely everything: comedy, pathos, and a rare humanity which has touched generation after generation,” Hall said. “Yet it just couldn’t be more relevant. To give it a life on the stage is an immense privilege, but to do it with Paul McCartney is off the scale. Paul’s wit, emotional honesty, and melodic brilliance brings a whole new depth and breadth to the classic tale. I feel as if an angel must be looking after me.”
McCartney described the original film as “a universal story we can all relate to.” Still, years after Kenwright reached out, the project has yet to come together. In 2023, McCartney said he hoped it wouldn’t be long.
“Musicals are difficult things to put together, but I think it may be shaping up at last,” he said in a Q&A on his website. “So, hopefully you’ll get to hear the songs.”
Paul McCartney has already written Christmas music
Even if McCartney never releases the songs, he has already penned a Christmas classic. His song “Wonderful Christmastime” is practically inescapable during December. He shared why he wanted to write it.
“I like the idea of Christmas songs purely because they only come around at Christmas!” he said in an interview on his website. “They remind us of the fun atmosphere of the whole season, and when I was writing ‘Wonderful Christmastime’ I was trying to capture that party aspect. I did hope it would keep coming back – which it has. Sometimes people will go into a shop and hear it a little too much, but I don’t care! I’m happy!”
He shared how he spends the holiday as an adult
McCartney’s career has taken him away from home for long stretches, but he said he always makes a point to be home on Christmas.
I have always tried to be off,” he said on his website. “We always kind of specified that we wanted to be home. The nearest we ever came to that was with The Beatles. We used to have a Christmas show. We used to get dressed up! And actually it was really cool because it was a sort of like a panto, but with musical people. A musically packaged show but with all sorts of little Christmassy things … So anyway, I don’t even think that was Christmas day! It would have been the week of Christmas. So that was fun. But no, Christmas has always been kind of sacrosanct.”
