Jeff Wayne's The War of The Worlds: The Musical Drama cover art

Jeff Wayne's The War of The Worlds: The Musical Drama

An Audible Original Drama

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Jeff Wayne's The War of The Worlds: The Musical Drama

By: H. G. Wells, Jeff Wayne
Narrated by: Michael Sheen, Taron Egerton, Theo James, Adrian Edmondson, Anna-Marie Wayne
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About this listen

When H. G. Wells first published The War of The Worlds in 1898, the novel quickly became a sci-fi classic. The story of extraterrestrials from Mars invading Earth captured the public’s imagination, inspiring a famed 1938 radio broadcast with Orson Welles, several feature films, countless video games, and a best-selling musical concept album by Jeff Wayne in 1978, among others.

Immersing listeners in a world that is as thrilling as it is desolate, Jeff Wayne’s eerie and pulsating score brings the suspense, drama, and urgency of Wells’s original novel to a fever pitch in this Audible Original Drama. Michael Sheen headlines an ensemble cast of talented performers that also includes Taron Egerton, Adrian Edmondson, Theo James, and Anna-Marie Wayne.

©2018 Music Masters: Sony Music Entertainment

©2018 Existing compositions: Universal Music Publishing Group, Jeff Wayne Music (Publishing) Ltd

©2018 Newly composed music: Jeff Wayne Music (P)2018 Audible, Ltd

©2018 Newly composed music: Jeff Wayne Music (P)2018 Audible, Ltd Audio Performances & Dramatisations Dramatisations First Contact Science Fiction Thought-Provoking Funny Feel-Good

Immerse yourself in The War of The Worlds

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Listen to an immersive audio drama

The Eve of the War
  • The Eve of the War
Discovery of the Martians
The Eve of the War
  • The Eve of the War
Heat Ray
The Eve of the War
  • The Eve of the War
Opening
  • The Eve of the War
  • Discovery of the Martians
  • The Eve of the War
  • Heat Ray
  • The Eve of the War
  • Opening

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Characters and cast

George, The Journalist, is our main narrator and lead character. George is a philosopher and is educated, resourceful, energetic and interested in everything. He is also one of the first to notice some oddities occurring on the Martian landscape and to make the correlation that the Martians are indeed launching an invasion. Despite the relative stoicism he displays throughout the story, prolonged exposure to the atrocities that the alien invaders inflict upon humanity however takes a serious toll on his sanity.

Michael Sheen spent much of his early career on the stage, with his performances in Amadeus and Look Back in Anger being nominated for Olivier Awards. Michael has become better known as a screen actor, in particular through his roles in various biopics such as Tony Blair in The Queen, as Kenneth Williams in BBC Four's Fantabulosa!, and David Frost in Frost/Nixon. In 2013, he received a Golden Globe nomination for his role in Masters of Sex.
The unnamed Artilleryman was separated from the rest of his combat unit when he was unhorsed. Escaping the heat rays of the Martian war machines he wanders into the garden of The Journalist. When the danger escalates and they need to escape, his military training, caution, and prudence prove to be exceedingly useful in their survival across the battle ravaged landscape.

Taron Egerton rose to fame thanks to his roles in films such as Kingsman: The Secret Service and the sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle Taron has starred as the title role in Eddie the Eagle, and showed off his musical prowess in the animated film Sing. Taron also plays the title role in the 2018 film Robin Hood.
The Parson is a cowardly, highly strung, weak-willed character, who, much like The Artilleryman, remains unnamed for the duration of novel. This is a man struggling to reconcile his religion with the terrible events of the invasion and he differs with the Journalist constantly, often refusing to comply with sensible requests such as rationing supplies or behave sensibly when the need for calm is paramount. Despite this though he refuses to part with The Journalist.

Theo James rose to fame in the The Divergent Series film trilogy. Some of Theo’s credits include the crime-drama series Golden Boy as well as the films Underworld: Awakening and Underworld: Blood Wars. He starred as Will Younger in the Netflix Original film, How It Ends.
In Jeff Wayne’s The War of the Worlds: The Musical Drama, Carrie, who is married to The Journalist is a more prominent character than in HG Well’s novel. After Carrie goes to stay with relations in Leatherhead, The Journalist’s movements, bearing and reasons for doing things are spurred on by his concern for her. Carrie becomes the main narrator and lead character for two episodes of the story.

Anna-Marie Wayne was born on the day Jeff Wayne's album, The War of the Worlds, entered the music charts. Anna-Marie has appeared on film, TV, radio and stage but The War of the Worlds fans will recognise her from Jeff Wayne's musical version of The War Of The Worlds, Alive On Stage, in which she plays Carrie opposite Liam Neeson.
Ogilvy, an eminent astronomer, is one of the first few to take notice of the Martians and he begins by investigating a meteor that turns out to be a Martian “cylinder” or transport tube, but he is initially skeptical of his findings.

Adrian Edmondson is perhaps best known for his comedic roles in the television series The Young Ones and Bottom, which he wrote together with his long-time collaborative partner Rik Mayall. Adrian also appeared in The Comic Strip Presents... series of films throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In the 2000s, he made numerous appearances on our TV screens and more recently has concentrated increasingly on music, forming a band, The Bad Shepherds, and performing and writing for the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band.

Jeff Wayne

Michael Sheen

Taron Egerton

Adrian Edmondson

Anna-Marie Wayne

Theo James

Behind the scenes with the cast of Jeff Wayne's The War of The Worlds

Michael Sheen, Taron Egerton and Jeff Wayne on recording Audible's musical drama
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Critic reviews

"The science-fiction classic undergoes a fantastic modernization, thanks to Jeff Wayne's energetic score and a cast of talented narrators. Michael Sheen capably steps into the character of the unnamed journalist and imbues his narration with steady calm as he recounts the Martian invasion of England. A varied cast coupled with subtle sound effects keeps the drama feeling fresh and dynamic. The musical score complements the story by punctuating the arrival of the Martians and other thrilling moments but also highlights the story's isolating atmosphere. Score and narration combine with high production values, resulting in a unique audio drama that enhances the original story." (AudioFile Magazine)

Martians through the ages

1897
HG Wells' novel The War of The Worlds is published and examines humanity’s struggle for survival in the face of an alien invader, drawing on themes of industrialisation, the expansion of the British Empire, and the relentless advance of technology.

1938
Orson Welles' adaptation of The War of The Worlds airs for CBS Radio and becomes infamous for the media frenzy it caused, with reports of deserted streets and listeners suffering heart attacks.

1976
After reading HG Wells’ novel just once Jeff Wayne is immediately entranced and sets about creating his musical interpretation.

1978
Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of The Worlds is released in the UK on June 9th and becomes a worldwide success. The album has since gone on to sell more than 15 million copies and has charted in 22 countries.

2005
Steven Spielberg’s War of The Worlds film starring Tom Cruise releases.

2006
The War of The Worlds – Alive On Stage! launches in April, breaking box office records and winning huge critical acclaim. The biggest touring show on earth, the spectacular production is part live musical concert, part theatre, part multimedia, multi-sensory experience.

2012
After several years of planning, The War of The Worlds enters a brand new era in 2012, with the release of a double album and tour known as The New Generation.

2016
Forty years after first starting work on his musical interpretation of The War of The Worlds, the epic production is brought to life in London’s West End at the Dominion Theatre.

2018
To mark the 40th Anniversary of Jeff Wayne’s original album, Michael Sheen, Taron Egerton, Theo James, Adrian Edmondson and Anna-Marie Wayne bring to life HG Wells’ original story accompanied by Jeff’s epic, emotive and sensational score in the audio drama Jeff Wayne’s The War of The Worlds: The Musical Drama.
All stars
Most relevant
An amazing array of talent and very well put together. This is War of the Worlds as it should be heard.

Amazing

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Short review: Superb production of the book and the musical blended into a sweet mixture. If your a fan, you should buy it!

Longer review:

I'm writing this review having only listened to two chapters. I could have well done this after only one. It reminds me of an idea I had a only a little time ago: I already knew the book was superb, having read it numerous times, I already knew that the musical version was utterly superb, having literally grown up listening to it countless times over the years. Create a uber-masterpiece from the two masterpieces! Have the narrative blended with the goodness of the music Jeff Wayne created, but use more, if not all of the book.

And they did it.

But who would take the narrator/journalist role? This above all was most important, but who? When I listened to the sample, I actually thought they'd used Richard Burtons' voice somehow, then read that Michael Sheen had done it. Absolutely perfect! Adrian Edmonson is brilliant! I'm getting to know the rest of the cast as I go, but I know that they WILL be exceptional performances. You have to get something like this right, and I feel they've nailed it sweetly.

Some slight niggles though, but this is mainly due to the use of the newer musical versions' music, the dance beat style portions just didn't feel right. Having said that I will say I eventually began to like the newer musical version, very well produced!

Some of the books' greatest fans may not like this production much as they may say there is too much music for it to be called an audio book as such, and so its called a audio drama/book maybe? Maybe not a musical in the true form? Well they seem to use a good portion of music, and have used pieces in different places too. Nicely done!

AND the BBC TV version of the book is just around the corner. Finally set IN THE RIGHT COUNTRY AND TIME PERIOD.

Thankyou for the time taken to read this giddy fans mumblings. Thankyou to the good people behind this production.

Now go buy it!

Very Best Regards,

Karl Hart

Very, Very Good!

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Jeff Wayne's The Musical Version of The War of the Worlds is a classic and must hear musical now this Musical Drama accompanies The Musical Version very well, I found it very gripping and at the end found I wanted more. The Musical Drama has the great instrumental music from Jeff Wayne's Musical Version along with great sound effects and audio acting. A gripping new way to tell the classic H.G. Wells story.

A Gripping way to listen to H. G. Wells classic

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If you like the original musical version by Jeff Wayne, then this is a must, the mix of Story, Drama and Music, is Nostalgic and brilliantly retold.

Oooo Laaaa

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Finally we have a deeper insight into this classic story. I have loved the War of the Worlds since i was a child and have owned the original album on every new medim as it was released. The story is very well told and the performances are exelant. A fantastic old story told in a brave new way.

Absolutely Sublime

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