Paddington The Musical

Paddington The Musical is a new family musical about the small bear from Peru who turns up alone in London and finds a home with the Brown family. Its characters come from Michael Bond's books, which began with A Bear Called Paddington in 1958, while its plot takes its cue from the 2014 film Paddington. Tom Fletcher of the British band McFly wrote the music and lyrics. Jessica Swale wrote the book, and Luke Sheppard directed.

This is not a revival. The show was born at the Savoy Theatre in London in 2025, and the Broadway run is a transfer of that original West End production. The London staging collected seven Laurence Olivier Awards in 2026, including Best New Musical.

In New York the show will play the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, with the first preview set for March 30, 2027, and opening night for April 18, 2027. One detail sets it apart: at every performance Paddington is played by two people, one inside the bear on stage and one giving him his voice live from the wings.

This outline follows the London version of the show.

The tale is told by Mr. Gruber. In his antique shop, he explains to a young visitor how a stuffed bear came all the way from Peru. Paddington himself reaches London on his own after his Aunt Lucy moves into a home for retired bears. The Browns, just back from a camping trip, spot him, and Mrs. Brown offers him a bed for one night.

At 32 Windsor Gardens he meets Mrs. Bird and explores the house with chaotic results. He also has a quest. An explorer once gave his uncle a red hat and promised Paddington a home, and the bear wants to find him without knowing the man's name. Meanwhile Millicent Clyde, the explorer's daughter, learns that a Peruvian bear is in town, the one specimen her collection of stuffed animals lacks. With her long-suffering assistant Grant in tow, she sets out to catch him, and a smitten taxi driver, Mr. Curry, gets pulled into her plan.

The rest of Act One mixes small kindnesses with bigger trouble. Mrs. Bird gives Paddington an old coat that belonged to Mr. Brown, and Judy's boyfriend Tony and his mother Tanya show him how the city moves. Mr. Gruber traces the hat to the Geographer's Guild, where one of Paddington's hard stares melts the frosty Lady Sloane and he finally gets the explorer's name. Then, at a work event at the Savoy, Millicent lures him with marmalade, and an explosion wrecks Mr. Brown's chance of a promotion. Blamed by Mr. Brown, Paddington runs off to Millicent, sure the family is better off without him.

In Act Two, Paddington shares a marmalade sandwich with Mr. Curry, and the small gesture makes the driver see what Millicent really intends. Mrs. Brown starts searching, and with Mr. Gruber, Tony and Tanya she covers London with missing-bear posters. Mrs. Bird urges Grant to chase his own dreams, while Lady Sloane and her Guild boast about the artifacts they have carried off from other countries. Eventually the whole family sets out to bring Paddington back.

Tom Fletcher's background is in pop. He started McFly in 2003, is one of its lead singers and its rhythm guitarist, and has 10 UK number-one singles to his name as a writer. He is also a children's author with more than 30 titles; his first novel, The Christmasaurus, came out in 2016.

The London score runs to 26 numbers over two acts, the same count as the tracks on the cast album. A few of them show the range:

• "Pretty Little Dead Things" introduces Millicent and her taxidermy habit.
• "The Taxi Driver's Code" belongs to Mr. Curry, with Jonathan Brown joining in.
• "The Rhythm of London" has Tony and Tanya showing Paddington the city.
• "The Explorer and the Bear" is Paddington's solo about the explorer he has come to London to find.
• "Marmalade" brings Paddington and Mr. Curry together in Act Two.
• "Where's Paddington" sends the Browns, Mr. Gruber, Tony, Tanya and the ensemble out on the search.

The London company recorded Paddington The Musical (Original Cast Recording) at Abbey Road Studios with the full West End cast and orchestra. Decca Records put it out digitally on April 10, 2026, with CD and vinyl following in May 2026. The album runs about 80 minutes and reached No. 1 on the UK Compilations chart. Matthew Brind handles music supervision, orchestrations and arrangements; he had earlier produced and arranged a number for the film Paddington 2.

In London the offstage half of the Paddington partnership did more than speak: the voice performer also worked the bear's face from a control panel, right down to the hard stare. As of October 2026, there was no word on whether the Broadway bear works the same way.

The bear is a heavy padded suit just under four feet tall. Instead of the realistic bear seen in the films, Zafar went back to Peggy Fortnum's drawings for the original books. Puppetry was reportedly tried and set aside, so that Paddington could hold the stage alone with no visible puppeteers. A tiny Made in Peru label is said to be sewn under one of his paws. The design stayed secret until the first London preview in November 2025.

Around him, the story moves between Mr. Gruber's shop, the Browns' house, the Guild and other corners of London, with Peru appearing in memory. Pye's scenery and Woodward's video and animation together won the Olivier Award for Best Set Design.

Paddington began as a toy. On Christmas Eve 1956, Michael Bond bought a lone toy bear in Selfridges in London as a present for his wife, and it inspired his first book. He named the character after Paddington station, near where he lived. A Bear Called Paddington came out in 1958 with illustrations by Peggy Fortnum. Bond wrote 29 Paddington books in all; the last, Paddington at St. Paul's, was published in 2018, after his death.

The BBC first brought Paddington to television in 1976, and Shirlie Roden wrote an earlier stage musical about him in 1983. The 2014 film, directed by Paul King, cast Ben Whishaw to voice the bear and Nicole Kidman as the villain. Two sequels, Paddington 2 and Paddington in Peru, followed in 2017 and 2024.

Producer Eliza Lumley reportedly first had the idea for the musical in 2016, and Sonia Friedman came on board about two years later. On December 12, 2023, the project was announced as in development, with workshops under way and a UK premiere planned for 2025.

The world premiere came with the first preview at the Savoy Theatre on November 1, 2025, and the official opening followed on November 30, 2025. The original London company included Arti Shah as Paddington on stage and James Hameed as his voice, with Victoria Hamilton-Barritt as Millicent Clyde, Tom Edden as Mr. Curry and Bonnie Langford as Mrs. Bird. As of October 2026, that production was still playing at the Savoy.

Producers announced the Broadway transfer on June 16, 2026. A Sydney production is also planned, with an opening at the Capitol Theatre in September 2027.