Matt Henry will play the teacher Rick Braithwaite in To Sir, With Love, a new musical drawn from E R Braithwaite's memoir, which opens a UK tour at Leeds Grand Theatre on 15 April 2027 and reaches London in May.
The tour starts at Leeds Grand Theatre on 15 April 2027 and stays there until 1 May, then makes shorter stops in Hull, Manchester and south-west London. Matt Henry, an Olivier winner for Kinky Boots who was most recently in The Devil Wears Prada at the Dominion Theatre, leads the company as Rick Braithwaite. Tickets are on sale now.
Four more names join him. Lucy Benjamin plays Ms Dale-Evans, Amy Di Bartolomeo is Ms Gillian Blanchard, Ben Richards plays Mr Florian and Georgia May Foote is Pamela Dare. Mr Weston, Mr Bell and Mrs Dare are still to be cast, and more of the creative team will follow.
Most audiences will know the story from the 1967 film starring Sidney Poitier, and the tour arrives sixty years after that release. Braithwaite is a Cambridge-educated engineer and former RAF fighter pilot who turns to teaching. Faced with prejudice from the staff and from his pupils alike, he chooses to treat the class as young adults about to step out into the world.
Kris Lythgoe has written the book and produces with Sam Quested and Darren Bell for QUBE Theatricals, which is also the general manager. Willette and Manny Klausner, Jennifer Yaek and Chris and Viv Day join as co-producers. New music and lyrics come from John Farrar and Kara DioGuardi, next to the title song To Sir With Love by Don Black and Mark London, the one Lulu turned into a hit. Sheldon Epps, a two-time Tony nominee, directs, with choreography by Kieran Donovan, orchestrations by Joseph Joubert, set and costumes by Andy Walmsley, video design by Aaron Rhyne, sound by Paul Smith and dramaturgy by Shereen Jasmin Phillips. Casting is by Debbie O'Brien and production management by Phil McCandlish.
The show grew out of the Ogunquit Playhouse New Works Program and had a first London outing as two concert performances at the Gillian Lynne Theatre in November 2025, with Lulu and Wayne Brady in the cast. The official opening night in Leeds, on 21 April 2027, is a gala in support of the Ben Kinsella Trust.
Sheldon Epps said: "This moving and wonderful story is personally meaningful to me for so many reasons. It is a joy and an honour to bring it to the stage, through the expressive power of musical theatre. Along with my wonderful collaborators we have found ways to let the story 'Sing' in an organic way, heightening the emotion that has always been there. Rarely do we have the chance to bring to life a story so rooted in its time, yet still so vitally relevant today. I know audiences will celebrate our 'Sir' with every performance."
Kris Lythgoe added: "We are so excited to bring this iconic story to a new generation, and in doing so, celebrate teachers. We all remember a teacher who made a difference in our lives, and we want this musical to encourage people to show them how much they are appreciated."
The tour so far:
- 15 April - 1 May 2027: Leeds Grand Theatre, Leeds
- 5-8 May 2027: Hull New Theatre, Hull
- 11-15 May 2027: Palace Theatre, Manchester
- 18-22 May 2027: New Wimbledon Theatre, London
