The National Theatre has today released studio recordings of three songs and confirmed the full cast for its upcoming new musical Hex, a vividly original retelling of Sleeping Beauty that will open in the Olivier theatre for previews on 4 December.
Hex goes beyond the kiss that woke the Sleeping Beauty and tells the story from the fairy’s perspective as she tries everything in her power to make things right after placing the hex on the baby. Rosalie Craig plays the fairy in this mythic, big-hearted new musical.
The three songs released today are Probly, Sixteen and In the Middle:
Probly is sung by Fairy (Rosalie Craig). After Fairy has been invited to the Palace to bless the new baby, Rose, she questions whether she should go or whether she will be forever on the outside.
Sixteen is sung by Rose (Kat Ronney). On the eve of her 16th birthday our soon-to-be sleeping beauty dreams of breaking free from her over-protective parents and the confines of her palace life.
In The Middle is sung by Fairy (Rosalie Craig) and Queenie (Tamsin Carroll). After the birth of Bert, the Prince, Fairy tries to teach Queenie to trust her maternal rather than her ogre instincts, and to feed the baby.
Songs From Hex – The Studio Sessions will be released by Broadway Records and available on all major digital music retailers from today.
The cast is led by Tamsin Carroll as Queenie, Rosalie Craig as Fairy, Michael Elcock as Bert and Kat Ronney as Rose, alongside Christopher Akrill, Delroy Atkinson, Esme Bacalla-Hayes, Madeline Charlemagne, Ebony Clarke, Sonya Cullingford, Hanna Dimtsu, Tamsin Dowsett, Joe Foster, Ben Goffe, Eleanor Kane, Daisy Maywood, Kody Mortimer, Joseph Prouse, Shaq Taylor and Sargon Yelda.
Rufus Norris directs with music by Jim Fortune, book by Tanya Ronder, lyrics by Rufus Norris, designs by Katrina Lindsay and choreography by Jade Hackett.
Orchestrations by Simon Hale, music supervision by Marc Tritschler, music direction by Tarek Merchant, lighting design by Paul Anderson, choreography by Jade Hackett with consultant choreography by Bill Deamer, sound design by Simon Baker and video design by Ash Woodward.
Probly, Sixteen and In The Middle were recorded at Konk Studios in September 2021, performed by Rosalie Craig, Kat Ronney and Tamsin Carroll (vocals), Marc Tritschler (piano), Nick Pynn (mandocello, guitar), Joley Cragg (drums) and Flo Moore (bass). Recorded by Julian Simmons and Matt Jaggar with Assistant Engineer Andy Whyte.
Hex begins performances in the Olivier theatre on Saturday 4 December, with press night on Wednesday 15 December. It is recommended for ages 8+
Supported by the Garfield Weston Foundation through the Weston Culture Fund. The reopening of the Olivier theatre is generously supported by Areté Foundation / Betsy & Ed Cohen.
The development of new music theatre is supported by the Genesis Foundation through the Genesis Music Theatre Programme
