Little Dancer to get fully staged West End premiere in 2027
The ballet musical Little Dancer will get its first fully staged West End run next spring.
It will play the Theatre Royal Haymarket from 15 February to 27 March 2027. Press night, the official opening night that critics review, is set for 18 February. WhatsOnStage reported the dates and initial casting on 1 October 2026.
Susan Stroman will direct and choreograph the production. She also led the show’s concert staging last year. Stroman’s credits include large-scale dance musicals on Broadway and in London.
Four principal cast members have been named. Tiler Peck will play Young Marie van Goethem. Julian Ovenden will play Edgar Degas.
Laura Pitt-Pulford will play Adult Marie. Josefina Gabrielle will play Martine. Peck is a principal dancer with New York City Ballet. Ovenden, Pitt-Pulford and Gabrielle are established musical theatre performers in London.
The show is written by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. Ahrens wrote the book, meaning the spoken story and dialogue, and the lyrics. Flaherty wrote the music.
It tells the story of the young Paris Opera Ballet dancer who posed for Degas’ famous sculpture. The bronze is formally titled Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. It remains one of the artist’s best-known works.
London audiences have already heard the score. The musical was presented in concert at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane last year, ahead of a full staging. A concert presentation means the songs are sung with an orchestra but without full sets, costumes and staging.
The UK concert premiere was scheduled for 27 July at 7pm, according to Playbill. That Drury Lane concert sold out.
What makes this stand out for fans is the short leap from concert to full production. The Haymarket run will test the piece in front of a West End audience over six weeks.
