Lynn Ahrens, Freddie Gershon, and Michael Kerker recommended the songwriting team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul in 2008.

After an audition where Pasek and Paul wrote three potential songs in a week, including two that would be worked into the show ("On Your Way Home" and "Property of Spiker and Sponge"), McDonald hired the duo.

Ladahlord, an unusual man, enters and welcomes the crowd to accompany him and watch a peculiar, genuine story unfurl.

The scene moves to James's bedroom at the Painswick Orphanage in London, England, where he sleeps with a scarf and glasses under his pillow.

They are unsure of what to do with a child at first, but when they discover that they can make James their slave, they are overjoyed with their most recent purchase ("Property of Spiker and Sponge").

His aunties let him know that the main explanation they have taken him in is so he can be their slave... furthermore, they then, at that point, immediately order him to chop down an old peach tree in the yard.

In "Shake It Up," Ladahlord promises that if James chooses a spell from the book and consumes the potion, amazing and unbelievable things will occur.

After James assists him with the spell, Ladahlord instructs him to consume the crocodile tongues by mixing them with water.

Sponge wants to eat it, yet Spiker won't let her... she realizes that individuals will pay cash to see such a peculiarity.

Spiker and Sponge sign a number of contracts and receive substantial cash advances to use the peach in the future.

It travels through the village, across fields, and past a well-known chocolate factory (Right Before Your Eyes – Reprise 3).

James looks further into his bug partners, finding realities about them that he won't ever be aware... for instance, that Grasshopper's ears are on his stomach.

In "A Getaway for Spiker and Sponge," they are advised to take the money and flee when they hear police sirens and helicopters overhead.

He serves drinks to Spiker and Sponge, who are traveling by cruise ship in first class to New York City.

Spiker and Sponge have just enough money to get to New York and resume their previous habit of stealing from Coney Island's boardwalk.

When they hear sirens, they realize that Spiker and Sponge are with the police on the ground attempting to bring the peach down.

Outwardly, they act relieved and happy to see him, but inwardly, they tell him how they will make him their slave once more—after they fumigate the bugs, naturally.

Even though they are a strange family, they accomplish amazing things: Centipede designs shoes, Spider uses her web to build bridges, and Earthworm starts an activist group called BAIT: Bugs Against Insensitive Terminology.

In "Welcome Home," James goes from being the most alone child to living in the peach pit with a huge, loving family.

Beyond the other songs changing significantly in content and order, the other most notable difference is that "Right Before Your Eyes" had not yet been implemented.

Staged by Goodspeed Musicals, the cast featured young actors Ellis Gage and Justin Lawrence Hall playing James,[3] Steve Rosen as Marvo The Magician,[3] Ruth Gotschall as Aunt Spiker[3] and Denny Dillon as Aunt Sponge.

[3] The show also featured Jim Stanek as the Grasshopper,[3] Chelsea Packard (credited as Chelsea Krombach) as the Ladybug,[3] Kate Wetherhead as the Spider,[3] Destan Owens as the Earthworm,[3] Nick Gaswirth as the Centipede,[3] also with Nicholas Park, Minami Yusi, Marissa Palley, and Jessica Fontana (credited as Jessica Hershberg) in the Ensemble.

[3] The production was initially expected to go to Broadway but received mixed critical feedback and more room for development was seen.

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul stated during the staging, "[W]e decided from the beginning that we were not writing a show for children [...] we are taking some of Dahl's darkness and expanding it even more.

[8] The cast also featured Rich Gray as Centipede, Heath Saunders as Earthworm, Greg McCormick Allen as Grasshopper, Diana Huey as Spider, with Vickielee Wohlbach, Ian Lindsay and Auston James in the Ensemble.

[10] Directed by Sue Miner, choreographed by Jen Shuber and musically directed by Jason Jestadt, it featured Alessandro Constantini as James, Lana Carillo as Ladybug, Saccha Dennis as Spider, Stewart Adam McKensy as Grasshopper, Jacob MacInnis as Earthworm, Dale Miller as Centipede, Nicole Robert as Aunt Spiker and Karen Wood as Aunt Sponge.

[citation needed] When the new Seattle version of the show was made available for licensing by McDonald's company, Music Theatre International, a cast album was recorded and released in 2015 as a permanently free download along.

With young actor Luca Padovan as James, this cast featured Marc Kudisch as Ladahlord, Jackie Hoffman and Mary Testa as Spiker and Sponge, respectively, Christian Borle as the Grasshopper, Megan Hilty as the Ladybug, Sarah Stiles as the Spider, Daniel Breaker as the Earthworm, and Brian d'Arcy James as the Centipede.

This included bonus tracks of Megan Hilty's solo arrangement of "Everywhere That You Are" and Skylar Astin performing "Middle Of A Moment".

This version is like the full show but trimmed down to one act, most notably cutting "Middle Of A Moment" and "Have You Even Begun To Wonder?".