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Maggie Smith may swear off corsets the moment that Downton Abbey filming ends, but it sounds like others from the period drama’s cast might be interested in re-uniting for a special adaptation of the series.
The Independent reports that Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes has been working with the show’s composer John Lunn to develop a musical adaptation of the series that they could take on the road, performing live shows in a number of cities.
Lunn confirmed the speculative plans in a conversation with Billboard, revealing, “There’s talk of Julian Fellowes and I and some of the cast doing a live tour the way Dr. Who did; 70 percent of it will be music from the show. . . . There might be some Elgar, there might be some jazz of the periods. Some of the actors will likely recite. We’ll have a screen. We may have the music live to several scenes. Julian may be the host. I’d say it’s a 75 percent chance it will happen.”
The project might seem like a stretch for those who have not seen the series, but Downton Abbey has been careful to incorporate the evolving musical landscape of the early 20th century in its episodes—featuring opera singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa performing as Dame Nellie Melba; a jazz band leader (played by Gary Carr) based on jazz musicians of the day; and plotlines revolving around musical inventions like the gramophone. Both Mary (Michelle Dockery) and Edith (Laura Carmichael) have sung during Christmas specials. And Elizabeth McGovern, who plays Cora, is a singer-songwriter who has welcomed her TV daughter Dockery onstage to occasionally perform with her and her band, Sadie and the Hotheads. McGovern, Jim Carter (Carson), and co-star Julian Ovenden (Charles Blake) have also lent their voices to a Downton Abbey Christmas album.
The Web site for the Doctor Who live show teases that that particular tour features “over 100 musicians and singers under the talented conducting baton of Ben Foster [as well as] some of the Doctor’s most fearsome adversaries live on stage including Daleks, Cybermen, Judoon, Whispermen, and more. The live performance will be accompanied by a big-screen presentation of key moments and specially edited sequences from the past decade of Doctor Who.”
This past March, Fellowes and Downton Abbey producer Gareth Neame also teased fans that a film adaptation of the beloved series is also a possibility.
