The acclaimed West End musical Paddington will open on Broadway next year and the full lead cast has been announced!
The hit show won seven Olivier Awards, including Best New Musical, and has been playing to sold out audiences in London since the very first performance. Tickets for that production are on sale through summer 2028 because of unprecedented demand.
James Hameed and Arti Shah, who shared the Best Actor in a Musical award at the Oliviers for their work bringing Paddington to life, will be reprising their roles on Broadway. Arti is the onstage performer in the Paddington suit while James provides the voice and remote puppetry.
“We’ve been completely blown away by the extraordinary artists we’ve met throughout the casting process, and by the warmth and enthusiasm with which everyone has welcomed Paddington to Broadway. We really do have a dream company. These are some of the most talented performers working today, all choosing to spend their time and considerable gifts on this funny, joyful and deeply life-affirming new musical. We couldn’t feel luckier,” producers Sonia Friedman and Eliza Lumley said in a statement. “And what’s been so exciting is seeing how each of them has responded to these wonderful characters, already finding their own humour, humanity and individuality in them. We can see how much they’re all going to bring to the show.”
They added, “We’re also enormously proud to be introducing Arti Shah and James Hameed to Broadway audiences. Our exceptional, award-winning duo have spent years, alongside an extraordinary team of artists and technicians, developing and bringing Paddington himself to life. What they have achieved together is quite remarkable.”
The Broadway cast of Paddington will also feature Tony winners and other famous faces.
Tony Award winner Jessie Mueller, best known for Beautiful and Waitress, will play Mrs. Brown and her Waitress co-star Drew Gehling will play Mr. Brown.
Emmy winner Tony Hale, best known for Veep, will play Mr. Curry with Tony winner Karen Ziemba as Mrs. Bird, Into the Woods actor Chip Zien as Mr. Gruber, and Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer as Millicent Clyde.
Rounding out the cast are Kelvin Dukes as Tony, J. Quinton Johnson as Grant, Zonya Love as Tanya, and Serena Parrish as Judy Brown.
What is Broadway’s Paddington about?
In PADDINGTON The Musical, a small, lost bear from Peru arrives in London in search of a place to call home. A chance encounter with the Browns leads him into an unexpected world of adventure, where kindness has the power to change lives and strangers can become family.
But London isn’t all afternoon tea and friendly faces—and even the seemingly happiest of families can have cracks beneath the surface. So, when a mysterious and vengeful villain sets her sights on Paddington, the Browns embark on a thrilling rescue mission, realizing they need this special bear as much as he needs them.
Paddington: The Musical begins performances on Broadway at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on March 30, 2027 ahead of an opening night on April 18, 2027.
Posted To:Allison Guinn Arti Shah Broadway Chip Zien Drew Gehling J. Quinton Johnson James Hameed Jessie Mueller Karen Ziemba Kelvin Dukes Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer Paddington Serena Parrish Tony Hale Zonya Love