Five questions with Bonnie Langford

This West End icon is having a ball as Mrs Bird in the hit musical Paddington, and delivering the ultimate showstopper.

Summary

• Bonnie Langford has an extensive West End and Broadway career
• She is currently starring as Mrs Bird in Paddington The Musical
• The musical has a book by Jessica Swale and music and lyrics by Tom Fletcher

Bonnie Langford has starred in some of the West End and Broadway's best and biggest musicals, from playing Madame Thénardier in Les Misérables and Evangeline Harcourt in Anything Goes, to Roxie Hart in Chicago and Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls. Now she's performing as the loveable Mrs Bird in heartfelt new musical Paddington.

Book Paddington The Musical tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

2025 was an amazing year from you! Returning to Broadway and now originating a role in a new West End musical. How do you do it all?
I don’t really know the answer, except that I’m very grateful to be busy and to have such amazing opportunities. To be back on Broadway in a Sondheim show [Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends] was fantastic and very exciting. But New York is a hard place, so I was glad to be home – and I didn’t realise I’d come home and pretty much launch straight into Paddington! So it’s been busy. I take vitamins, walk my dog, look at the sky, say thank you very much – and sleep.

Mrs Bird must be such fun to play. What is your favourite thing about the character?
I do love playing Mrs Bird. It’s been great to create her because she’s quite unknown in the books. Michael Bond based her on a friend’s nanny, but we don’t really know her origins. In the films she’s the housekeeper; in the books she’s the lodger, so we thought maybe the house was inherited and she came with it. She’s always saying “when I was this, when I was that,” and some of it could be true. I love her because she’s the backbone, with something mysterious about her. She keeps the family together until Paddington comes along and gives her the freedom to live her life again.

You get quite a showstopper in Act Two of Paddington. How does that feel each night?
It’s fabulous to do a great number, and I didn’t know until tech that Mrs Bird’s name goes up in lights. I find that fabulous. It’s her “Rose’s Turn” moment: she just goes for it. It’s camp and outrageous, but also heartfelt – and quite exhausting.

As a former child star, what advice do you give the young performers in Paddington?
Our young performers in Paddington are fantastic. There are four of them playing Jonathan, they’re about nine or ten, and they’re all quite different – but all really charming, and I have such affection for them. I’d never tell them what to do, but I hope that, by example, they see how to take it seriously and also really enjoy it.

How do you place Paddington amongst all of the incredible roles in your stellar career?
Well, thank you very much. I feel very grateful. To be in a show that’s a huge hit and touches people so deeply is an absolute privilege, and I’m thrilled to be part of it.

Book Paddington The Musical tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: Bonnie Langford. Inset: in Paddington with her co-stars. (Courtesy of production)

This article first appeared in the February 2026 issue of London Theatre Magazine.