Get to know the new West End cast of 'Paddington The Musical'

The hit musical is going into its second year with incredible actors joining the show, including Cassidy Janson and Linzi Hateley.

Summary

• Paddington The Musical has announced new actors joining the show
• The hit West End musical will feature Haydn Oakley and Charlotte Wakefield as Mr and Mrs Brown
• Abbie Purvis, Hassan Taj and Sonny Monaghan brings Paddington to life
• The cast also features Cassidy Janson and Linzi Hateley

Break out the marmalade sandwiches: we’ve got simply marvellous Paddington The Musical news. The hit West End show has celebrated its first birthday in the West End by announcing the amazing actors who will be joining the cast as the show continues its run at the Savoy Theatre.

The seven-time Olivier Award-winning Paddington, which features a score by Tom Fletcher, book by Jessica Swale, and direction by Luke Sheppard, will see several performers continue in their roles, including Tarinn Callender as Grant and Teddy Kempner as Mr Gruber. There are gifted new youngsters joining them: Poppy Houghton and Francesca Ratcliffe alternating as Judy Brown, Eddison Burch and Shayne Maphosa as Tony, and Charlie Dean, Arlo Drage, Oliver Goodman, and Finn Leonard as Jonathan Brown.

Alongside that brilliant company are some very exciting performers playing roles such as Mr and Mrs Brown, Mrs Bird, and Paddington himself. Get to know the new casts of Paddington ahead of your first – or a return – trip!

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Abbie Purvis and Hassan Taj

This talented pair will alternate in the all-important role of the Paddington on Stage Performer. They originally joined the cast as, respectively, Alternate Paddington and Understudy Paddington, so are already part of the family.

Purvis’s previous work includes Snow White, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Waldo’s Circus of Magic and Terror, plus TV shows Dog Squad and River City, and movies Your Highness and Willow. Taj has appeared on TV in The Acolyte and Andor, and on the big screen in Solo: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Sonny Monaghan

Joining them in bringing everyone’s favourite bear to theatrical life is Monaghan as Young Man/Paddington (Voice & Remote Puppetry). He is making his West End debut in the show, and his previous theatre work includes the UK and Asia tour of Dear Evan Hansen, and In Between at The Other Palace.

Haydn Oakley

Oakley plays the risk-averse Mr Brown. His extensive theatre work includes An American in Paris, The Book of Mormon, Anything Goes, We Will Rock You, Mamma Mia!, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sunset Boulevard, Betty Blue Eyes, Lend Me a Tenor, Passion, Monty Python’s Spamalot, and Wicked. His screen projects include Ink, A Family Affair, Home Alone, and Shearings.

Charlotte Wakefield

Wakefield plays the passionate artist Mrs Brown. She was Olivier nominated for Spring Awakening and The Sound of Music, and her other theatre work includes Titanique, The Great British Bake Off Musical, The Boy in the Dress, Heathers, Crazy For You, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Mamma Mia!. Her screen projects include Occupation, An Angel for May, and An American in Austen.

Linzi Hateley

Hateley plays the yarn-spinning Mrs Bird. She is renowned for her Olivier-nominated turn in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and she has also appeared in The Little Big Things, Les Misérables, Blood Brothers, Barnum, Chicago, Mary Poppins, Oliver!, Into the Woods, and Grease. Her screen work includes Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, London Road, Les Misérables, and A Christmas Carol.

Cassidy Janson

Janson plays the dastardly villainess Millicent Clyde. She won an Olivier Award for & Juliet, originating the role of Anne Hathaway, and her other theatre work includes Once, The Mousetrap, Chess, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Man of La Mancha, Candide, Dessa Rose, Tick, Tick… Boom!, Avenue Q, and Wicked. Her work on film includes The Hike and Moment by Moment.

Samantha Bingley

Bingley plays the fabulously snobby head of the Geographers’ Guild, Lady Sloane. Her past theatre work includes Beauty and the Beast, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Jack and the Beanstalk, To Won Foo, Hey! Christmas Tree, Voldemort and the Teenage Hogwarts Parody Musical, and The Secret Garden. She was a Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year Finalist in 2019.

Marc Pickering

Pickering plays the Browns’ suspicious and pedantic neighbour Mr Curry. His theatre work includes Thespians, The Play What I Wrote, Bleak Expectations, Zorro! The Musical, The Elephant Man, The Wizard of Oz, Seussical!, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. His screen work includes All Creatures Great and Small, Sleepy Hollow, Calendar Girls, and Boardwalk Empire.

Sandra Marvin

Marvin plays a much more welcoming neighbour, the lovely Tanya. Her stage credits include Waitress, & Juliet, Fat Ham, Sister Act The Musical, Romantics Anonymous, City of Angels, Stepping Out, Show Boat, Ragtime, and Hairspray. Her work on screen includes Call the Midwife, Emmerdale, Citizen Khan, Gravity, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and Mary Poppins Returns.

Alex Crandon

Crandon plays a quintessential London resident who befriends Paddington: Hank the Pigeon. His past theatre work includes Robin Hood & Maid Marian, Dick Whittington, 3 Winters, Cinderella, and Consent. His work on the big screen includes Love Without Walls and Love is Thicker Than Water.

Main photo credit: Paddington The Musical (courtesy of the production). Inset: The new cast of Paddington The Musical (courtesy of the production)