Arti Shah and James Hameed, who share an Olivier Award for bringing the bear to life at the Savoy Theatre, are taking Paddington The Musical to Broadway next spring, in a company that also includes Jessie Mueller and Tony Hale.
Arti Shah and James Hameed, who were jointly named Best Actor in a Musical at the 2026 Olivier Awards for their shared performance as the bear, will repeat the partnership in New York. Shah, who spent three years developing the character before joining the original West End cast, plays Paddington on stage, while Hameed is the Young Man and supplies the bear’s voice and remote puppetry. Both are named in the Broadway principal cast of Paddington The Musical, announced today by Sonia Friedman Productions, STUDIOCANAL and Eliza Lumley Productions on behalf of Universal Music UK.
The American Browns are led by Jessie Mueller, who won a Tony Award for Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, as Mrs Brown, with Drew Gehling, whose Broadway credits include & Juliet and Waitress, as Mr Brown. Serena Parrish makes a Broadway debut as Judy Brown. Tony Hale, the three-time Emmy winner from Veep and Arrested Development, plays Mr Curry, Tony winner Karen Ziemba is Mrs Bird, and Chip Zien, the original Baker in Into the Woods on Broadway, plays Mr Gruber.
Allison Guinn, who has appeared in the West End before, in Hair, plays Lady Sloane. Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer is Millicent Clyde, J. Quinton Johnson, who recently finished a run in the Broadway company of Hamilton, is Grant, and Zonya Love, an original cast member of The Color Purple on Broadway, is Tanya. Kelvin Dukes, a quarterfinalist on America’s Got Talent, makes his Broadway debut as Tony. The rest of the company is still to be named.
The producers singled out the two Olivier winners. Sonia Friedman and Eliza Lumley said: “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.”
Previews at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on West 45th Street start on Tuesday 30 March 2027, with opening night on Sunday 18 April 2027. Broadway tickets start at $69. The New York staging is led by the same writers and director as London: music and lyrics by Tom Fletcher, a book by Jessica Swale and direction by Luke Sheppard, with choreography by Ellen Kane and the bear designed by Tahra Zafar. Casting in New York is by Jim Carnahan Casting. After Broadway, the show is due at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney in September 2027, as we reported in October.
None of this takes the bear away from London. The West End production has just marked its first anniversary at the Savoy Theatre, where it has played to sold-out houses since the first performance, and its run there now extends to 25 June 2028. Seven 2026 Olivier Awards, including Best New Musical, tied the record for the most won by a musical, and the show has also taken the Critics’ Circle Award for Best New Musical and nine WhatsOnStage Awards. The producers say the best availability for Savoy seats now begins in summer 2027.
Paddington The Musical is booking at the Savoy Theatre until 25 June 2028.
