Cruel Intentions musical to premiere at Edinburgh Fringe

WEST END impresario Bill Kenwright is to premiere a new musical based on the 1999 cult movie Cruel Intentions in Edinburgh this August, the Evening News can exclusively reveal.

Cruel Intentions - Ryan Philippe Reese Witherspoon Sarah Michelle Gellar

Cruel Intentions: The 90s Musical will play the Palais du Variété Spiegeltent at Assembly George Square Gardens throughout the Fringe, marking the 20th anniversary of the original film.

Directed by Roger Kumble, Cruel Intentions starred Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, and Selma Blair and was, itself, an adaptation of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ 1782 novel Les Liaisons dangereuses.

Set among a group of wealthy teenagers at school in New York City, the musical is the beguiling story of two of Manhattan’s ‘most dangerous liaisons’, Sebastian Valmont and Kathryn Merteuil.

From 1-25 August, audiences will be able to enter their manipulative world as, seduced by revenge and fuelled by passion, the step-siblings bet on destroying an innocent girl.

Weaving a web of secrets and temptation, they become entangled in the cruellest game of all... love.

The action of the piece will be played out to a sound-track of some of the most iconic hits of the 90’s including Natalie Imbruglia’s Torn, I Saw the Sign by Ace of Base, Boyz II Men’s I’ll Make Love to You, NSYNC’s Bye Bye Bye, Britney Spears’ Sometime, REM’s Losing My Religion, Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve and many more.

Original film director Roger Kumble says, “Never in my darkest fantasies would I believe 20 years later, my movie about a pair of hedonistic Manhattan step-siblings would turn into a musical.

“An amazing musical that even people who hate musicals would love, complete with a soundtrack loaded with the greatest 90s guilty pleasure songs.”

Already a must-see experience in New York and Los Angeles, where it has proved massive hit, the new semi-immersive production will put Edinburgh audiences right in the heart of the action.

The New York times declared it ‘Funny... nostalgia-fuelled. The choice lines and inspired sound-track hits are all there... the best of the 90s’.

Cruel Intentions: The 90s Musical comes to the Fringe for its UK premiere ahead of an expected West End run, with tickets going on sale on Thursday, at 10am.

The musical made its Off-Broadway debut at Greenwich Village nightclub Le Poisson Rouge after two runs in Los Angeles and a pop-up engagement in New York in 2017, where film cast members Gellar, Witherspoon and Blair were spotted in the audience .

This 2019 UK premiere is being produced by Bill Kenwright, who recently produced Heathers The Musical to great success on London’s West End.

The movie opened on March 5, 1999 and based on its cult success, Jordan Ross, Lindsey Rosin and Roger Kumble created the stage musical version, which will be directed by Jonathan O’Boyle. The cast is yet to be announced.

Tickets go on sale at 10am on Thursday 18 April from www.edfringe.com