'The Greatest Showman' Musical Heads to London's West End in Spring 2027
Disney Theatrical Group announced on Friday, August 14 that the stage musical adaptation of The Greatest Showman will open at Theatre Royal Drury Lane on London's West End in spring 2027. The reveal came during D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California Billboard.
The West End production will star Oliver Tompsett as P.T. Barnum and Samantha Barks as Charity Barnum, both reprising their roles from the production's sold-out world premiere at Bristol Hippodrome earlier this year. The principal cast also includes Ben Joyce as Phillip Carlyle, Vajèn van den Bosch as Jenny Lind, Malinda Parris as Lettie Lutz, and Lorna Courtney as Anne Wheeler Playbill.
Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who wrote the 2017 film's songs, are writing the score for the stage version. Tim Federle, known for the High School Musical: The Musical: The Series television show, is writing the book — the spoken dialogue and narrative structure that frames the musical numbers. Casey Nicholaw will direct and choreograph Variety.
The show will feature the film's signature songs, including "The Greatest Show," "A Million Dreams," "Come Alive," "Rewrite the Stars," "Never Enough" and "This Is Me," alongside new music written for the stage. "This Is Me" won the Golden Globe for best original song in 2018, and the film's soundtrack spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the chart that ranks the most-consumed albums in the United States.
Theatre Royal Drury Lane is owned by LW Theatres, which confirmed the transfer in its own announcement. The venue is one of the oldest and largest theatres in the West End, with a seating capacity of over 2,200. The Bristol premiere was staged as a tryout — a common practice in musical theatre, where a show runs in a smaller market before a larger engagement allows the creative team to revise the material based on audience response.
The 2017 film, starring Hugh Jackman as Barnum, grossed over $435 million at the global box office and its soundtrack was among the best-selling albums of 2018. For Disney Theatrical Group, the stage transfer adds to a portfolio that includes The Lion King, Frozen and Beauty and the Beast, all of which moved from screen to stage.
For fans of the film, the stage version offers the first chance to see those songs performed live in a full theatrical production in the West End — with a cast of West End regulars and the original songwriting team attached.
