PADDINGTON THE MUSICAL Will Open at Sydney's Capitol Theatre in 2027

Paddington is headed Down Under! Paddington The Musical, the seven-time Olivier Award-winning Best New Musical, will open at Sydney’s Capitol Theatre in September 2027. Casting will be announced at a later date.

The Australian production is presented by Sonia Friedman Productions, STUDIOCANAL, Eliza Lumley Productions on behalf of Universal Music UK, and Suzanne Jones of JONES Theatrical Group, with support from the NSW Government through its tourism and major events agency Destination NSW.

Based on Michael Bond’s beloved A Bear Called Paddington and the award-winning STUDIOCANAL film Paddington, the musical features music and lyrics by Tom Fletcher, a book by Jessica Swale, and direction by Luke Sheppard.

Paddington The Musical is the most awarded new musical in West End history. At the 2026 Olivier Awards, it won seven prizes, tying the record for the most wins by any musical, including Best New Musical, Best Director for Sheppard, Best Set Design for Tom Pye and Ash J Woodward, and Best Costume Design for Gabriella Slade and Tahra Zafar, who designed the bear himself. The production also earned a record nine WhatsOnStage Awards, the most for any new musical, and recently won the Critics’ Circle Award for Best New Musical.

The show opened at London’s Savoy Theatre on November 30, 2025, and is currently booking through February 2028. A Broadway production will open at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on April 17, 2027, and is booking through November 2027.

“From the outset, we have wanted Paddington The Musical to open only in cities where it can be produced with the same ambition, care and theatrical scale as in London,” said producers Sonia Friedman and Eliza Lumley. “Paddington’s journey across the world in search of a new home, and his discovery that home can be found through kindness, acceptance and a sense of belonging, feels particularly resonant for Australian audiences. Together with Sydney’s extraordinary appetite for world-class musical theatre and the affection Australians have long held for Paddington, this makes the city a natural new home for our production.”

Australian producer Suzanne Jones added, “As an Australian producer, I am immensely proud that Sydney will be the first city in Australia to welcome Paddington The Musical. It is a rare new musical: spectacular in scale, but always led by character, humour and heart. I cannot wait for Sydney audiences to meet this very special bear at the Capitol Theatre.”

NSW Minister for Jobs and Tourism Steve Kamper called the booking “a fantastic coup for Sydney,” noting that the city is only the third theatre district in the world, after the West End and Broadway, to secure the production.

“It has been the greatest adventure of my career to be entrusted with bringing Paddington’s story to life on stage,” said composer Tom Fletcher. “I’ve made many happy memories writing, recording and touring Australia over the years and I am so excited to have the opportunity to bring our show to Sydney and share this very rare and special bear with Australian audiences.”

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.

The creative team also includes musical supervision, orchestrations and arrangements by Matt Brind; choreography by Ellen Kane; scenic design by Tom Pye; costume design by Gabriella Slade; Paddington and puppet design by Tahra Zafar; lighting design by Neil Austin; sound design by Gareth Owen; video design and animation by Ash J Woodward; hair, wig and makeup design by Campbell Young Associates; and Paddington casting consultant Annabelle Davis.

The show’s success has extended well beyond the stage. Paddington The Musical (Original Cast Recording), written by Fletcher and produced by Brind, is out now on Decca Records and has become the fastest-selling physical West End original cast recording of the 21st century in the UK, topping the Official UK Compilation Chart less than six months after the show opened. Paddington also made a stop at the famous Abbey Road crossing, a moment that landed him on the cover of Rolling Stone UK.