No new show has seemed such a certain commercial hit since the premiere of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which will celebrate a decade in London this summer.

Should you fancy a family outing to Paddington: The Musical – and given the reviews and word of mouth, that’s an understandable ambition – tickets are already selling fast into the next half-term period. You might want to aim for Easter or even Christmas, demand being such that bookings are now open until February 2027. No new show has seemed such a certain commercial hit since the premiere of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which will celebrate a decade in London this summer (while marking many years in other global capitals). Theatre reviews rarely praise producers, but it feels germane that both the drama about J.K. Rowling’s boy wizard and now this song-and-dance show featuring Michael Bond’s sweet-toothed immigrant bear were put on stage by Sonia Friedman. As well as having a feel for family entertainment that rivals Walt Disney, Friedman has also been responsible for some of the most powerful recent speech dramas, including Robert Icke’s devastating modernisation of Oedipus and Sir Tom Stoppard’s final play, Leopoldstadt.

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