‘Radium Girls’ takes the stage in London: Marissa Jaret Winokur to direct the world premiere of the new musical

London’s Southwark Playhouse Borough theatre will host the world premiere of the new musical The Radium Girls, as Playbill reports. Performances begin on March 20, 2027, with the official opening night set for March 30, and the run continues until May 8, 2027. Direction is entrusted to Marissa Jaret Winokur, Tony Award winner for her role as Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray.

The musical, with a book by Amanda D’Archangelis, Sami Horneff and Lisa Mongillo, music by D’Archangelis and lyrics by Horneff and Mongillo, follows the true story of the young women hired in the 1920s to paint the luminous dials of watches at the United States Radium Corporation factories in New Jersey. The young workers, mostly teenagers, put the brush in their mouths to sharpen its point, not knowing the paint contained radioactive radium. When bone pain and unexplained illnesses begin, the protagonists Olive, Helen and Frances set out to uncover the company’s deadly secret, according to Theatre Weekly.

The project has an all-female creative team, with orchestrations by Jonathan Bauerfeld, choreography by Rebecca Reaney and associate direction by Olivier winner Chadd McMillan. The production is led by High Octave Productions, with casting by Harry Blumenau to be announced later. After a 29-hour reading in New York this summer, the London premiere marks the musical’s first major stage step, while a global production is planned for 2027.