Joy: A New Musical, the true story of the Long Island single mother who invented the Miracle Mop, gets its first UK production at Southwark Playhouse Elephant from 20 February to 10 April 2027.
The musical about inventor Joy Mangano is heading to London. Joy: A New Musical plays the Main Space at Southwark Playhouse Elephant from Saturday 20 February 2027, for a limited run that ends on 10 April. It is the show's UK premiere.
The setting is suburban Long Island in the late 1990s. Joy is a single mother with money worries, a teenage daughter and a house full of family, her divorced parents and her ex-husband among them. She cannot look at an everyday object without seeing a problem to fix. One of her ideas, a household product with a clever twist, finds its way on to the shopping channel QVC, and her life changes. The same story was told on screen in the 2015 film Joy, with Jennifer Lawrence in the title role.
London is the musical's second production. It first played Off-Broadway in summer 2025 at the Laura Pels Theatre in New York, with Tony nominee Betsy Wolfe as Joy, and closed there on 17 August 2025. No casting has been announced yet for Southwark.
The writers and the director come with it. AnnMarie Milazzo wrote the music and lyrics and Ken Davenport the book. Lorin Latarro directs, Joshua Bergasse choreographs and Andy Einhorn is musical supervisor. Set design is by Lu Herbert, costumes by Tina McCartney and video by David Bengali. Sandi Moran presents the production.
Performances are at 7pm from Monday to Saturday, with 2.30pm matinees on Thursdays and Saturdays, and there is a captioned performance on Monday 29 March at 7pm. The show runs for about 90 minutes with no interval, latecomers are not admitted, and the venue recommends it for ages 8 and over. Tickets start at £20, or £16 for concessions and previews, and the opening Pioneers' Preview on 20 February is priced at £10.
Joy: A New Musical plays at Southwark Playhouse Elephant from 20 February to 10 April 2027.
