From Peru to the West End, beloved children’s literary icon Paddington Bear makes his stage musical debut Saturday night at the Savoy Theatre.
As previews of Paddington: The Musical kick off, the producers released the first images of the titular bear brought to life on stage, spotlighting the creative team responsible for the puppetry involved in director Luke Sheppard’s production of writers Tom Fletcher (music and lyrics) and Jessica Swale’s (book) musical.
Played by James Hameed (Paddington off-stage performer and remote puppeteer) and Arti Shah (Paddington on-stage performer), the team behind Paddington Bear includes designer Tahra Zafar, physicality associate director Audrey Brisson, remote puppetry coach Phill Woodfine and casting director Annabelle Davis. The alternate Paddington on-stage performers are Abbie Purvis and Ali Sarebani.
Producers Sonia Friedman and Eliza Lumley praised the “extraordinary team” in a statement, adding, “Their collective creativity and vision are at the heart of our production, and it has been a true collaboration, helmed by Luke Sheppard, our creative, associate, stage management, production and development teams involved in supporting us in bringing Paddington to life in a truly beautiful and unique way.
“What we as producers always hoped to achieve was, quite simply, Paddington on stage — and thanks to the immensely talented artists, both on and off stage, we believe we’ve realized that,” they said.
Based on Michael Bond’s 1958 book A Bear Called Paddington and the 2014 feature adaptation Paddington, producers included Sonia Friedman Productions, StudioCanal and Eliza Lumley Productions on behalf of Universal Music UK.
As previews commence, Paddington: The Musical producers announced Saturday that the production has been extended to Oct. 25, 2026.
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