It is somewhat fitting that the musical adaptation of one of the world’s most famous romantic novels, Gone With The Wind, should start rehearsals in the same week as St Valentine’s Day. And there was a lot of love in the room at the Jerwood Space yesterday, when leads Darius Danesh and Jill Paice discussed the project with select members of the press, releasing titbits of information to keep the anticipating public guessing.

“If you can imagine all the most creative people in show business and theatre in one room; the best creative team of stage, the most incredible musicians and music directors and one of the greatest living stage directors of all time, all in one room, meeting for the first time with a cast of over 30 – it was an incredibly exciting and very moving first day of a journey that began 10 years ago when Margaret [Martin]originally sat down to writing the stage adaptation.” So said Danesh, in his softened Glaswegian tones that will be transformed into the twang of the Deep South of America when he takes to the New London stage as Rhett Butler in April.

Danesh, who will be creating a musical character for the first time, having previously stepped into the roles of Billy Flynn in Chicago and Sky Masterson in Guys And Dolls, is clearly excited about the project and has put his third pop album on hold while he prepares for the new production: “It’s a great challenge as an actor to take on a role that’s so well known. However I do it with the good grace of the direction and the belief of an incredible man like [director] Trevor Nunn.”

On stage he is joined by Paice, who returns to London where she previously originated the role of Laura Fairlie in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Woman In White, which was also directed by Nunn. Paice also took the Lloyd Webber show to Broadway where, more recently, she has been starring opposite David Hyde Pierce in Curtains. Her stage experience will, no doubt, be drawn upon by Danesh, who is already taken by his co-star. “It’s a great joy to be able to work with an accomplished and inspiring and wonderfully humble and very gorgeous actress,” he commented, “who has had the fortune of success not just in the West End but on Broadway.”

The production is based on Margaret Mitchell’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, rather than the multi-Oscar winning film. Margaret Martin has provided the book and lyrics, with adaptation by Nunn, as well as the music. The famous tale is set in 1860s Georgia at the start of the American Civil War. On an idyllic farm the perfect lives of the O’Hara family, and eldest daughter Scarlett, are smashed by the fighting. Over a decade of American history the relationship of Scarlett with Rhett Butler mirrors the peace and conflict of a nation, as an entire way of life is changed forever.

Though the cast have only just met to begin rehearsals, the creative process to bring the musical to the stage is nearing completion. The pair were keeping tight-lipped about what audiences can expect, but Danesh promised a unique “breakthrough” in terms of staging that is currently being constructed at the New London, and Paice hinted at a reserved set design: “I think what’s great about our production is it is sort of scaled down. It is an epic story but a lot of it’s going to be left to the imagination, but a wonderful imagination, and we’re going to help you along the way. I can guarantee you that it is going to be a fabulous evening of theatre.”

Gone With The Wind opens at the New London on 22 April following previews from 4 April.

Clark Gable epitomised Rhett Butler, the ultimate alpha male, in the screen version of Gone With The Wind, and now Darius Danesh hopes to do the same on stage.

Darius will play Margaret Mitchell's rugged charmer in a musical version of her novel that Trevor Nunn begins rehearsing later this month.

Darius, who first achieved fame on Pop Idol, and followed that success with platinum-selling records, has been travelling back and forth from his Hollywood Hills home to meetings in London with Nunn and the show's musical director Gareth Valentine.

Back in LA, Darius, pictured, told me that Rhett Butler is a character set in legend because of Gable's screen performance.

"The idea in the musical is to revisit Margaret Mitchell's book and to examine some of the themes in a gritty but romantic way.

"Rhett's a strong man who experiences great tragedy, and we explore his grief in greater detail in the show than in the film."

The show will also, obviously, explore the love Rhett has for Scarlett, and there will be more about Mammy and Prissy, Scarlett's slaves.

Jill Paice will play Scarlett; Edward Baker-Duly has been cast as Ashley; Madeleine Worrall is Melanie; NaTasha Yvette Williams, Mammy; and Jina Burrows, Prissy.

Before Darius jumps head-long into rehearsals in London, he'll put in some more work on his third album at his private LA studio. But completion may have to wait, because GWTW rehearsals will be intense and the script is still being tweaked.

Previews are at the New London Theatre from April 4, with official opening night on April 22.

Trevor Nunn has chosen Pop Idol star Darius Danesh to play Rhett Butler in his new production of Gone With The Wind.

The 27-year-old singer is stepping into the role made famous by Clark Gable in the 1939 film. The stage version is one of the most eagerly anticipated shows in London this year.

Danesh previously appeared as Billy Flynn in Chicago and Sky Masterson in Guys And Dolls. But this will be his biggest role to date.

"It doesn't seem real - I'm over the moon," he told the Standard from Los Angeles, where he lives with actress and model Natasha Henstridge, star of Species.

"Just being asked to audition for Trevor Nunn was such a privilege. He's a master of Shakespeare and of musicals and of all that he touches. I knew he had at his disposal the cream of the crop to open his show.

"It was an ambition of mine to work with him and I can't believe that ambition is being fulfilled at the age of 27. I'm very excited." Memories of Gable were the biggest challenge, he admitted.

"It's such a loved work of art in celluloid and one of the greatest love stories of all time," said Darius. "Rhett is such a wonderful and funny and charming alpha male, as well as a bit of a brute and rough diamond."

Nunn, former director of the National Theatre, said: "I don't get time to watch a great deal of television so when I first saw Darius at a casting session he was new to me. He came through the most rigorous audition process I have ever conducted."

• Gone With The Wind previews at the New London Theatre, Drury Lane, from 4 April.

Darius Danesh, former Pop Idol contestant and Chicago resident, is to play the role of Rhett Butler in Trevor Nunn’s new musical production of iconic novel Gone With The Wind, which opens at the New London in April.

Danesh joins the already announced Jill Paice as Scarlett O’Hara, Edward Baker-Duly as Ashley Wilkes and Madeleine Worrall as Melanie. Also confirmed in the cast are NaTasha Yvette Williams as Mammy and Jina Burrows as Prissy.

Danesh first came into the public eye for his unusual rendition of Britney Spears’s Hit Me Baby One More Time in the auditions for TV talent contest Popstars. Returning for more in the subsequent Pop Idol, he came third in the competition and went on to release the single Colourblind, which became number one in the UK singles chart. He made his West End debut in 2005 playing sleazy lawyer Billy Flynn in Chicago, a role he reprised the following year. He also appeared in the UK tour for Michael Grandage’s production of Guys And Dolls last year.

Williams makes her UK stage debut in Gone With The Wind, having previously appeared on Broadway in The Color Purple. Burrows has performed at the Royal Festival Hall and Hackney Empire and has toured with UK recording artists including Jamiroquai and Jamelia.

Margaret Mitchell’s 1936 best-selling novel Gone With The Wind was made into an iconic film in 1939 with Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable in the roles of Scarlett and Rhett. Set in 1860s Atlanta, Georgia, the epic story follows young Scarlett O’Hara, who is ripped from an easy existence on her father’s plantation by the onset of Civil War. Over a 10-year period the turbulence in her life is mirrored by her volatile relationship with the unpredictable Rhett Butler.

The story has been adapted into this new stage musical production by Margaret Martin and Nunn, who also directs.

Joining the principal cast are: Emily Bryant, Gareth Chart, Laura Checkley, Julian Forsyth, Kirsty Hoiles, Chris Jarman, Tober Reilly, David Roberts, Tom Sellwood, Ray Shell, Savannah Stevenson, Gemma Sutton, Sue Jane Tanner, Susan Tracy and Alan Winner.

Gone With The Wind opens at the New London on 22 April after previews from 4 April and is currently booking until 27 September.