Little Dancer arrives at the Theatre Royal Haymarket for six weeks from 15 February 2027, with New York City Ballet star Tiler Peck making her West End debut opposite Julian Ovenden. Tickets are on sale now.
Little Dancer is coming to London. The new musical by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty runs at the Theatre Royal Haymarket from Monday 15 February to Saturday 27 March 2027, billed as its original West End production. It is a six-week run, and tickets are on sale now.
Susan Stroman directs and choreographs. She has won two Olivier Awards and five Tonys, and her shows include The Producers, Crazy for You, Contact and Oklahoma!. This time she has a New York City Ballet principal at the centre of the company.
That principal is Tiler Peck, an Emmy winner and Olivier nominee, who makes her West End debut in the show. Her London stage appearances are rare.
Julian Ovenden (High Society, South Pacific, and on screen Downton Abbey) plays Edgar Degas. Laura Pitt-Pulford, whose stage work takes in Into the Woods, Standing at the Sky's Edge and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, plays Adult Marie. Both are Olivier nominees. Josefina Gabrielle, seen in High Society, Chicago and Les Misérables, completes the announced leads as Martine.
The story starts from a sculpture most people would recognise. Degas modelled his young dancer on Marie van Goethem, a poor fourteen-year-old who wanted to be a great dancer. The musical follows the girl and the painter through Belle Époque Paris as each pursues their art at any cost.
Peck said: “I’m thrilled to bring Little Dancer to London alongside this incredible team and make my West End debut in a story that resonates so deeply with me. Many people know of the Little Dancer sculpture, but few know much about the girl, the muse, who inspired it.”
Ovenden, who has played the Haymarket before, said: “I couldn’t be happier or more excited to be returning to the Theatre Royal Haymarket next spring with Little Dancer, this beautiful story inspired by Edgar Degas and his famous young dancer.”
Stroman added: “Little Dancer is a visually stunning and life-affirming piece of theater about the lives of women and the power of art. Just as Degas was inspired by Marie, Marie inspired me. She wanted to be a great dancer, and inadvertently, through art, became the most famous dancer in the world.”
The show has a track record already. It sold out in Washington D.C. and Seattle, and a concert performance at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in 2025 sold out too. Ahrens and Flaherty, who share Olivier and Tony Awards, are the team behind Ragtime, Anastasia and Once on This Island.
The creative team, which includes several Tony Award winners, has set design by Beowulf Boritt, lighting by Ken Billington, costumes by William Ivey Long and sound by Kai Harada. Doug Besterman and Larry Hochman provide the orchestrations, Sam Davis is music supervisor and writes the dance arrangements, and casting is by Jill Green Casting, CDG.
Anita Waxman is lead producer, alongside Jana Shea, Patricia R. Klausner / Sharon A. Carr, Emily Blavatnik and Danny Cohen. Iwan Lewis is UK executive producer, and Short Street Productions Ltd handles general management.
Press night is 18 February 2027. One thing to know before booking: Peck is currently scheduled for every performance up to Saturday 20 March 2027, so the final week of the run is not covered by that schedule, and the producers say no individual artist can be guaranteed at any given performance.
