Paddington The Musical Tickets at the Savoy Theatre
Paddington The Musical plays at the Savoy Theatre, in the courtyard off the Strand, and is booking to 13 February 2028. It took eleven Olivier nominations and won seven of them, more than any other show that year.
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020 7193 9050 · Monday to Saturday 8am to 8pm, Sunday 10am to 8pm
Help choosing your seat
Who's Paddington The Musical For?
Families with a child of about six upwards. That is what the producers advise, the bear is on stage almost throughout, and the jokes are pitched to work at both heights.
Anyone who knows the 2014 film. The shape of the story is the same, though Jessica Swale's book is free with the detail and adds characters the film never had.
Anyone who books for staging. Tom Pye's set and Ash J Woodward's video flood the ceiling and the proscenium arch with images, and the two of them shared the Olivier for it. Confetti and leaflets come down from above, and the production sends water into the audience in the scene where Paddington floods the Browns' bathroom.
Not for you if you want to come out singing the songs. Critics split on Tom Fletcher's score, and the ones who liked it least called it pleasant rather than memorable.
What Tickets Cost
The price of Paddington depends on when you book far more than where you sit.
| When you book | What is still on sale | Cheapest seat left |
|---|---|---|
| 9 to 15 months ahead | Good availability on every performance, all week | £25 to £50 |
| About 3 months ahead | Low, with the odd date showing more | £65 to £200 |
| About 2 months ahead | Low on everything, some dates gone entirely | £90 to £345 |
Far out, £25 buys a real choice of date. Late, what is left is a good seat at a high price, because the cheap ends of the rows sell first.
It is not a straight ladder down. December 2026 sits nearer than late November 2026 and is cheaper across the month, and a Thursday matinee has stood at £345 in the week a Thursday evening stood at £120.
Most seats go for around £60 to around £110, with the premium end of the ladder running well above that. Ring us on 020 7193 9050 with your date and we will tell you what is on it.
About Paddington The Musical at the Savoy Theatre
Paddington shuffles on to a station concourse with a suitcase, blinks, raises his snout and looks around at the crowd. He is about the size of a small child and he is in almost every scene.
He is not animatronic, and he is not a puppet worked from the side. Two performers make him at once, at every performance. Arti Shah is inside the costume, doing all of the movement. James Hameed is off stage singing the songs and speaking the lines, and while he sings he is also working Paddington's face by remote control. Hameed walks on in person for one or two numbers.
The Olivier Awards did not separate them. Best Actor in a Musical went to James Hameed and Arti Shah jointly, one award between the two of them. Tahra Zafar designed him: slim, shaggy, and a long way from the toy on the shelf.
Tom Fletcher of McFly wrote the music and lyrics, his first musical. Jessica Swale wrote the book and Luke Sheppard, who took the Olivier for Best Director, directs.
What's Paddington The Musical About?
A bear from Darkest Peru arrives at Paddington station with a suitcase, a hat and a label asking somebody to look after him. The Browns take him home, more or less by accident, and he sets about being a bear in a family that was not expecting one.
The threat is Millicent Clyde, a taxidermist who wants Paddington stuffed and mounted. She is why the guidance is 6+ rather than lower, and she gets the show's best song, Pretty Little Dead Things.
Mr Curry fronts Marmalade, a cabaret number about the sandwich filling that opens the second act. The two ballads are The Explorer and the Bear and One of Us.
Performance Schedule
Eight performances a week. There is no Tuesday performance.
| Day | Matinee | Evening |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | - | 7pm |
| Tuesday | - | - |
| Wednesday | - | 7pm |
| Thursday | 2pm | 7pm |
| Friday | - | 7pm |
| Saturday | 2pm | 7pm |
| Sunday | 2pm | - |
Evenings start at 7pm, half an hour earlier than most West End shows, and you are back on the Strand at about 9:45pm. A 2pm matinee finishes around 4:45pm.
Christmas does not follow that pattern. The theatre closes only on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Extra matinees go in across the week, including a Tuesday on 22 December. 24 and 31 December are afternoons only, 27 December plays at 1pm and 6pm, and 1 January is one show at 5pm.
Best Seats for Paddington The Musical
The front of the Dress Circle, rows A to E. You get the whole stage picture, including all of the projection work, and row A has a little more legroom than the rows behind it.
The middle of the Stalls, rows D to G, is the other answer. It is as close as you can sit before the Dress Circle overhang starts at row J.
The Grand Circle is the cheapest level and it still sees all of it, because nothing overhangs it. Stay in the front section, rows A to E. Rows F and G sit behind a safety rail, and the back of that level is high.
The seats that lose something on this show are the ones tucked under a balcony, not the ones high up: the rear Stalls from about row U, and the Dress Circle from about row K. Level by level is in the Tickets and Best Seats tab. Call us on 020 7193 9050 and we will find the best seat available on your date.
Cast and Creative Team
Arti Shah and James Hameed share Paddington. Bonnie Langford plays Mrs Bird, and Victoria Hamilton-Barritt and Tom Edden won Olivier Awards for Millicent Clyde and Mr Curry.
Casting changes on a run this long, so ring us if there is somebody you particularly want to see.
Book Your Paddington The Musical Tickets
All-in pricing, so the price you see is what you pay. It sells out months ahead, so if your date is inside six weeks, ring us before you plan around it.
Book tickets • Call us on 020 7193 9050
Dates & tickets
FAQs
Two performers, at once, at every performance. Arti Shah is inside the costume and James Hameed sings and speaks the part from off stage. They won the 2026 Olivier for Best Actor in a Musical jointly.
A person in a costume, with a second performer giving him a live voice. Nothing is animatronic and nothing is recorded. His face is worked by remote control from off stage.
Not sold out, but close on anything soon. Inside about two months most performances are down to their last seats and some dates have gone. Nine months out there is choice all week. If your date shows nothing, the answer is a different date rather than a resale site: we are an official seller with all-in pricing, and resellers are neither.
From around £25 if you book nine months or more ahead. Book late and the cheapest seat left costs several times that. What a typical seat costs is in What Tickets Cost above.
It is booking to 13 February 2028. That is how far ahead the Box Office has opened, not the day it shuts, and the run has already been extended three times.
The running time is 2 hours 45 minutes, including one interval.
An evening performance starts at 7pm and is out at about 9:45pm. Matinees go up at 2pm and finish around 4:45pm.
The producers advise 6+, and only under-3s are barred, so a four-year-old can be admitted and is below the guidance. Three things to weigh: it runs 2 hours 45 minutes, the villain is a taxidermist who wants the bear stuffed, and there is strobe-like lightning, pyrotechnics and loud noise throughout.
Everyone needs a ticket whatever their age, so no sitting a small child on a lap. Anyone 16 or under must sit next to an accompanying adult, and under-3s are not admitted.
The shape is: bear arrives at the station, the Browns take him in, a taxidermist wants him stuffed. The detail is not. Tony and his mother Tanya are new, and Mr Gruber has a Kindertransport past.
No. He wrote the music and lyrics and does not appear in it. As well as writing for McFly he has written more than thirty children's books, which shows here.
No UK tour has been announced. The only other production confirmed is on Broadway, at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, with previews from 30 March 2027. London is booking to February 2028.
No. Wear what you like. If you are eating at the Savoy Hotel first, check its rules separately, because some of its restaurants ask for more.
Accessible seating and the venue's access scheme are handled by the Savoy's own team rather than by us. The step-free route and the accessible performance dates are in the Venue and Travel tab.
Where to Sit for Paddington The Musical
Paddington plays high. The projections run up the proscenium arch and across the ceiling, and confetti, leaflets and water come down from above, which is why the level you pick matters less here than whether you are sitting under a balcony.
The Stalls. Rows D to G in the middle are the best seats in the building for this show. You are close enough to watch the bear's face working, and legroom is better here than anywhere else. The Dress Circle overhang starts from around row J and you really notice it from row P back; the last three rows, U to W, are the ones we would steer you away from. It is 75 steps down from the foyer, with no lift.
The Dress Circle. Our pick overall, front section, rows A to E: the whole stage picture, all of the projection work, and a little more legroom in the front row than the rest of the level carries. The Grand Circle sits over the Dress Circle from row G and you start to really notice it from row K back, which is why the front is worth paying up for. Row A end seats have a rail in front of them. For the level at a lower price, seats 8 to 23 in rows G to M keep you central. It is 32 steps down.
The Grand Circle. The cheapest seats, and they hold up better here than the price suggests, because nothing is built above this level and nothing is taken off the top of the picture. Rows A to E are the ones to ask for. Rows F and G are entirely restricted by a safety rail, and the block behind it is raised, further back and higher again. It is steep, and the venue warns that it may not suit anyone who does not like heights. Legroom is tight.
Row by row, with every restricted seat named, is in our Savoy Theatre guide. Call us on 020 7193 9050 and we will tell you which of these is still available on your date.
Seating plan
Dates & tickets
Booking now
Getting to the Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre is on Savoy Court, the short road off the Strand that runs up to the Savoy Hotel, London WC2R 0ET.
Charing Cross is about five minutes along the Strand, on the Northern and Bakerloo lines. Covent Garden is about seven minutes across the market, Embankment about seven and Temple about ten. Buses stop on the Strand either side of Savoy Court: the 26, 87, 91, 139 and 176 by day, and the N21, N26, N44, N87, N89, N91, N155, N199 and N343 at night.
Arrive 15 to 20 minutes before, no later. If you are in the Stalls, come at the earlier end of that: the foyer is at the top of the building and your seat is 75 steps down, with no lift. The Dress Circle is 32 steps down.
Paddington lets latecomers in at a few points, but if you miss the start you miss the bear's arrival.
The Paddington shop is a unit of its own at the far end of Savoy Court, not a stand in the foyer. Big bears, T-shirts, caps, pens, badges and posters.
A Light Map and a Sonic Story, setting out the lighting and sound changes, are available from the Savoy Box Office on request.
Accessible performances:
- Audio described: 13 September 2026, 7 March 2027, 26 September 2027
- BSL interpreted: 20 September 2026, 14 March 2027, 19 September 2027
- Captioned: 27 September 2026, 28 February 2027, 12 September 2027
- Relaxed: 11 September 2026, 7 May 2027, 10 September 2027, starting at 6pm
Booking those, and the step-free entrance on Carting Lane, is handled by the venue's own team rather than by us. Parking, the bars and everywhere worth eating nearby are in our Savoy Theatre guide.
Address
Savoy Court, Strand, London WC2R 0ET
Nearest Tube
Charing Cross
Paddington The Musical Cast
| Role | Performer |
|---|---|
| Paddington, on stage | Arti Shah |
| Paddington, voice | James Hameed |
| Mrs Bird | Bonnie Langford |
| Millicent Clyde | Victoria Hamilton-Barritt |
| Mr Curry | Tom Edden |
| Mrs Brown | Amy Ellen Richardson |
| Mr Brown | Adrian Der Gregorian |
| Judy Brown | Delilah Bennett-Cardy |
| Jonathan Brown | Joseph Bramley |
| Mr Gruber / The Explorer | Teddy Kempner |
| Tanya / Aunt Lucy | Brenda Edwards |
| Lady Sloane | Amy Booth-Steel |
| Tony | Timi Akinyosade |
| Grant | Tarrin Callender |
This is the company that opened the show on 30 November 2025, and casting changes on a run booking into 2028. Jonathan Brown is shared between several young performers.
Arti Shah and James Hameed won the 2026 Olivier for Best Actor in a Musical jointly. Victoria Hamilton-Barritt won Best Actress in a Supporting Role as Millicent Clyde and Tom Edden won Best Actor in a Supporting Role as Mr Curry. Timi Akinyosade won the WhatsOnStage award for Best Professional Debut as Tony.
Creative team
Music and lyrics by Tom Fletcher. Book by Jessica Swale, from Michael Bond's A Bear Called Paddington, with the story taking its shape from the 2014 film.
Directed by Luke Sheppard, who won the Olivier for it. Choreography by Ellen Kane. Set by Tom Pye and video by Ash J Woodward, who shared Best Set Design. Costumes by Gabriella Slade, with Paddington designed by Tahra Zafar, who shared Best Costume Design. Lighting by Neil Austin, sound by Gareth Owen, orchestrations by Matt Brind.
Paddington The Musical Reviews
Press night was 30 November 2025. No national newspaper went below four stars. Five stars came from the Guardian, the Standard, the Independent, the Daily Mail, the i Paper and WhatsOnStage; four from the Telegraph, the Times, the Financial Times, TimeOut and The Stage.
The bear is what they wrote about first. The Standard called him one of the most wonderful theatrical creations of recent years, up there with the War Horse puppets. The FT described him shuffling on to the station concourse with his snout raised and instantly having the audience in the palm of his paw.
Victoria Hamilton-Barritt was the other thing they agreed on. The Guardian said she steals the show and that Pretty Little Dead Things is the best song in it.
The reservation that kept coming back is that the second half has too much in it. The Guardian, at five stars, said the final few scenes feel extraneous and it is slightly over-long. The Times said the show does not need the Geographer's Guild number. The Telegraph called it a little over-stuffed with songs. If you are bringing a small child, that is the part of the evening to know about in advance.
The score divided them. The FT thought only a handful of the numbers would follow you home. The Times heard the opposite and picked out One of Us for bringing the first act to a thunderous conclusion.
Whether it joins the classics is the one thing they flatly disagreed on. The Telegraph said no, a touch threadbare; the Guardian called it the new Mary Poppins. Seven of its eleven Olivier nominations converted, the best haul of that night, and it added nine WhatsOnStage Awards and the Critics' Circle award for Best New Musical.
The performances written about above are the ones that opened the show in November 2025, and casts change on a run this long. Every review, with the stars and the quotes, is in what the critics said.
Paddington The Musical
Savoy Theatre