The Bridges of Madison County, Menier Chocolate Factory

The Bridges of Madison County brings songs and romance to London in a starry UK première directed by Trevor Nunn. The musical has followed a familiar evolutionary process, from bestselling novella in 1992 to blockbuster movie in 1995 (directed by Clint Eastwood and earning Meryl Streep yet another Oscar nomination), and finally to Broadway musical in 2014.

The show gets its première at Menier Chocolate Factory in Southwark, an intimate Off-West-End theatre with a reputation for superlative musicals. Fresh from directing the Menier's sellout, five-star revival of Fiddler on the Roof, Sir Trevor Nunn returns to oversee The Bridges of Madison County.

Stage veteran Jenna Russell (Merrily We Roll Along, Harold Pinter Theatre; Sunday in the Park With George, Wyndham’s Theatre; Fun Home, Young Vic) leads the cast to play Francesca Johnson.

It’s the eponymous bridges that bring National Geographic photographer Robert Kincaid to Iowa in 1965. While in Madison County, he meets and befriends Francesca, an Italian housewife desperately unfulfilled by her life as a immigrant war bride. Her husband and children are away, and the strangers' companionship soon turns into a passionate affair – but the imminent return of her family raises questions about the future of their romance that demand all-too-immediate answers.

Underlying this earnest and absorbing tale is The Bridges of Madison County's multiple Tony Award-winning orchestral score. It's a mélange of folk, country, pop and operatic numbers that delve heartily into the musical's key themes: love, family, duty and the concept of home.

All in all, then, with Sir Trevor's strong track record for rousing musicals and the Menier's limited 150-person seating capacity, we predict a sellout.

Tickets for The Bridges of Madison County at Menier Chocolate Factory are now available.