Paddington: The Musical swept to victory at the 2026 Olivier Awards, landing seven of its 11 nominations.
The award-winning West End production, with music by McFly’s Tom Fletcher, is currently being staged at the Savoy Theatre in London and has received rave reviews since opening in December.
It is inspired by the beloved children’s books by Michael Bond and hit films, and follows the small bear from Peru as he is taken in by the Brown family after a chance meeting at a London railway station.
Paddington: The Musical took home the awards for best new musical, best actor in a musical and best actor and actress in a supporting role – as well as for best costume design, best set design and the Sir Peter Hall award for best director.
It stars a life-like puppet of the bear, played by a two-person team consisting of James Hameed as remote puppeteer, controlling the expressions and delivering the voice, and Arti Shah embodying the character on stage.
The musical was also written by Jessica Swale who, while speaking to the Press Association ahead of the ceremony, called it “such a privilege to look after such a special bear”.
As the team behind the hit show picked up the prize for best new musical, McFly star Fletcher said: “Paddington is such a family. We’ve tried to make a show that is all about celebrating kindness and to be part of this group of people that is putting that out into the world at this time, it feels so special.”
Theatre producer Eliza Lumley also acknowledged Bond’s daughter Karen Jankel, and said: “Karen, your father wrote a character who not only reminds us to be kind, but also reminds us to have empathy for stories that are other than our own – which, after all, is the superpower of theatre itself.”
The musical follows the story of the mischievous brown bear who arrives in London seeking a home, finding the Brown family who have to later protect him from evil villain taxidermist Millicent Clyde.
Due to popular demand, the soundtrack for Paddington The Musical was released on streaming services on Friday, one month earlier than its originally scheduled release.
It also recently triumphed at the WhatsOnStage awards with nine gongs, including best new musical and best costume design.
The marmalade-loving bear has also made a string of public appearances in recent months, having presented an award at the Bafta Film Awards in February and posed for a photo on Abbey Road’s zebra crossing in April.
Paddington, first published on October 13 1958, has seen a number of adaptations over the years – including a BBC TV version in 1976, voiced by the late Sir Michael Hordern.
More recently there were movies released in 2014, 2017 and 2024 – which all performed well at the box office.
