Monty Python legend Terry Jones has been talking up his latest project to British magazine Classic Rock – a somewhat unlikely pairing with songwriter Jim Steinman, based on the music of Tchaikovsky.

“I’ve got a few things going on at the moment,” Jones says.

“We’re setting up a movie called Absolutely Anything, which we’re planning to do early next year. And then I’m directing a show that I’ve written with Jim Steinman, of Meat Loaf fame, which is a new version of The Nutcracker Suite. It’s a musical version and I think we’re going to put that on at a New York theatre at Christmas 2013.”

Retitled Nutcracked, Steinman has written for songs that range from ultra-dramatic love duets to raging metal to hip-hop. The fresh arrangements come courtesy of Steinman’s friend and longtime collaborator, Steve Margoshes. Co-producer is Elva Corrie, who previously helmed the musical version of Bat Out Of Hell.

“It’ll be a mix of rock and classical,” adds Jones, who also penned a book for the show. “The Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy, for instance, goes ‘Der-Der-DERR!!’ and is very metal. But it’s all based on Tchaikovsky’s tunes, which Jim’s written lyrics to. I directed a reading of it in New York recently and it went really well.”