LONDON, July 19 — The project, for which the 77-year-old musician has been writing music and lyrics, marks McCartney’s first foray into the world of theatre.

Over the past year, McCartney has been collaborating on the lyrics with English screenwriter and playwright Lee Hall, who is also writing an accompanying book for the musical.

The show will be produced by British theatre impresario Bill Kenwright, who reached out to fellow Liverpudlian Paul McCartney to write the music in 2016.

“Like many of these things, this all started with an email. Bill had asked if it was something I might be up for. Writing a musical is not something that had ever really appealed to me, but Bill and I met up with Lee Hall and had a chat and I found myself thinking this could be interesting and fun,” McCartney recounted in a statement.

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The former Beatles has nearly completed the songs for the musical, which is set to open in the UK in late 2020. Variety reports that the production will then move to Broadway.

The stage musical is an adaptation of Frank Capra’s classic film, It’s a Wonderful Life, which was released in 1946.

It starred James Stewart as George Bailey, a frustrated businessman contemplating suicide on Christmas Eve. A guardian angel, portrayed by Henry Travers, is then sent from the heavens to show him how different the world would have been if he had never been born.

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According to the New York Post, Kenwright originally asked Capra for the stage rights to the film years ago, but was turned down by the filmmaker in a handwritten letter.

The British producer was later offered by rights by Paramount and asked McCartney if he would be interested in collaborating on the project.

“Working with Paul on It’s a Wonderful Life is a dream realised. To be honest I was hooked on first hearing him say ‘one/two/three/four’ on the demo of the opening number...! It’s musical theatre — but it’s always McCartney”, said Kenwright in a statement.

Ahead of the premiere of the stage musical, Paul McCartney has just completed the American leg of his Freshen Up tour. He was recently joined on stage by fellow Beatles Ringo Starr during a performance at Los Angeles’s Dodger Stadium. — AFP-Relaxnews