Nanny McPhee musical developed in Dundee to make West End debut in 2027

A new Nanny McPhee musical which began life in Dundee is officially heading to London’s West End, with its world premiere confirmed for summer 2027.

Oscar-winning actress and screenwriter Emma Thompson has spent years developing the stage adaptation alongside Dundee singer-songwriter Gary Clark, with the pair’s collaboration having a very local beginning. Thompson previously revealed that they started writing the musical after being snowed in together in Dundee in 2019.

Clark, best known as the frontman of Dundee band Danny Wilson and for writing the music for stage musical Sing Street, has composed the music for the new production and has co-written its original lyrics with Thompson. Thompson, who wrote and starred in the original 2005 Nanny McPhee film, has also written the musical’s book.

The long-awaited production will now receive its world premiere in London in summer 2027, bringing Nanny McPhee to the stage for the first time. It will be directed by Katy Rudd, whose credits include The Ocean at the End of the Lane and Ballet Shoes, with Tony and Olivier Award-winner Rob Howell responsible for set and costume design.

The creative team also includes choreographer Ellen Kane, orchestrator Simon Hale, music supervisor Nigel Lilley and illusion designer Chris Fisher, whose previous work includes Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Back to the Future: The Musical and Stranger Things: The First Shadow.

The production follows the familiar story of the chaotic Brown household, where the mysterious Nanny McPhee arrives armed with her knobbly stick, unusual methods and a little magic after the family’s unruly children have driven away every previous nanny.

The project has been in development for more than a decade, with an early workshop in 2018 featuring Olivia Colman as Nanny McPhee alongside Lily James and Rory Kinnear. Plans for a London production had previously been discussed for both 2023 and 2026 before today’s confirmation of a 2027 world premiere.

For Dundee, the announcement gives the city another remarkable connection to a major international stage production, with a musical based on one of Britain’s best-known family films having partly taken shape during a snowy spell in the city.

The West End theatre, exact performance dates and casting — including who will take on the role made famous on screen by Emma Thompson — are still to be announced.