Beatles approve their songs for a West End Yesterday musical

The Beatles have agreed to let their songs be used in a stage musical version of Yesterday, the 2019 film about a struggling musician who wakes up in a world where nobody remembers the band, according to the show's co-producer Emma Freud. Speaking to BBC Radio Suffolk after receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of Suffolk, Freud called the permission "a huge deal" and said the musical is still at the workshop stage. Reports of her comments appeared on October 19 and 20, 2026, and drew a public complaint from the writer of the film's original story, who said he had not been told about the project.

Permission to use the Beatles' songs is the single biggest hurdle for any project built around their music. The band's songs are the whole premise of the story, and a show about a world where only one man remembers those songs cannot work without them. Freud's confirmation therefore turns the musical from a possibility into a project with its core material secured.

The idea also follows a well-worn path in London's West End and on Broadway: turning a successful film into a stage show built on familiar songs. Such musicals often rely on audiences who already know both the story and the music, which lowers the commercial risk for producers. With Curtis, the director of Love Actually, and Boyle, the film's director, attached, the project is likely to attract strong interest from theatres and investors once it is ready.

The film's lead role went to Himesh Patel, and the story of an ordinary man who suddenly becomes a global star was built around his performance of the songs. A stage version would cast its own lead, and casting will be one of the first things fans watch for.

The complaint from Jack Barth is a reminder of how credit works in film adaptations. Barth wrote the early version of the idea, and Curtis rewrote it into the film. The rights for a stage show are usually held by the film's producers, so the original writer may have no formal say, but his public comments show that the question of who is consulted can become a story of its own.

Short-term: The project moves ahead with further workshops. Fans can expect news of a theatre, casting and dates later, but none has been given.

Long-term: If it reaches the stage, the musical could join the line of film-to-stage adaptations that run for years in the West End and tour abroad, and could renew interest in the Beatles' catalogue among younger theatregoers.

Who is affected: West End theatres and producers, Beatles fans, actors and musicians who may be cast, and the writers whose work the story is based on.

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