"Ah, music, a magic beyond all we do here" : an analysis of Matilda the Musical and its application in creating musical adaptations of children's novels ; selected songs from The Boy Who Lived : a musical adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

This thesis explores the world of adaptation and the transformation from book to musical theater stage. I study adaptation by examining adaptation theory, as seen through Linda Hutcheon’s text A Theory of Adaptation and an exploration of the adaptation from book to stage according to Vincent Murphy’s Page to Stage. Using these texts and theories, I explored the adaptation of children’s literature to the stage, with a close reading and analysis of Tim Minchin and Dennis Kelly’s Matilda the Musical, an adaptation of Dahl’s children’s novel, Matilda. With insight from Gilles Deleuze’s work on repetition, difference, and rhizome, this analysis into the adaptation process guided me in producing an original musical adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone entitled The Boy Who Lived. The analysis and my own adaptation process revealed the key components for creating musical stage adaptations of children’s novels, with further insights into the reader and audience’s role in the success of the adaptation.Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS), School ofGraduat