The new musical The Braille Legacy is to receive its world premiere at London’s Charing Cross Theatre, beginning performances April 10 prior to an official opening April 24, for a run through June 24.

The show is inspired by the story of Louise Braille, a young blind boy who wanted the same chance in life as those who see, and who ended up improving the lives of millions of blind people around the world when he created a unique tactile system for blind or visually impaired people to be able to read and write. The show has an original French book and lyrics by Sébastien Lancrenon and music by Jean-Baptiste Saudray, and has been translated into English by Ranjit Bolt.

It will be directed by Thom Southerland, artistic director of Charing Cross Theatre who has directed Ragtime and Titanic there and whose production of Death Takes a Holiday is about to open. Music supervision and orchestrations are by Simon Lee.

Jérôme Pradon, whose West End credits include the U.K. premiere of the musical Women On The Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Guillaume in Martin Guerre, The Man in Whistle Down the Wind, Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings, Chris in Miss Saigon and Javert in Les Misérables, will star. Further casting is still to be announced.

The production will be designed by Tim Shortall, with costumes by Jonathan Lipman, sound by Andrew Johnson and casting by Stephen Crockett at Grindrod Casting and Jo Hawes for children's casting. It is being produced by The Braille Legacy Ltd by arrangement with Colbert Entertainment Ltd.

To book tickets, contact the box office on 08444 930650 or visit charingcrosstheatre.co.uk