Nanny McPhee musical: Emma Thompson won't play the title role in the West End

Emma Thompson will not play Nanny McPhee in the stage musical she has written. Speaking on Heart Breakfast with Jamie Theakston and Zoe Hardman, in comments reported on 19 October 2026 by West End Theatre, BroadwayWorld and The Stage, she said she had been asked to take the title role in Nanny McPhee the musical (coming soon), but turned it down after advice from Stephen Sondheim. The world premiere plays the Aldwych Theatre, with performances beginning on Saturday 6 November 2027.

Why Emma Thompson said no to the title role

Thompson told the programme that she had recently worked with Sondheim, whom she called “a certified genius, God rest him”, and that he had offered to help if she ever had questions. When she asked him whether she should play the nanny herself, she recalled his reply: “you can’t do that you will die.”

His reasoning, she explained, was that a writer has to keep rewriting after previews begin, sometimes overnight, while the actors learn new material the next day. “He said that you just can’t do both things and you will not be able to survive that. And it was such a good lesson to do one job,” said Thompson.

A magical nanny arrives in the West End

The musical is based on the Nanny McPhee films, which Thompson wrote and starred in, and on the Nurse Matilda character created by Christianna Brand and Edward Ardizzone. The 2005 film starred Thompson alongside Colin Firth, Angela Lansbury, Kelly Macdonald, Imelda Staunton, Celia Imrie and Thomas Brodie-Sangster, and Thompson returned to write and star in the 2010 sequel, Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang.

On stage, the story follows the mysterious Nanny McPhee as she arrives at the Browns’ door to find a household in chaos: anarchic children who have driven away every nanny before her, a desperate father, a donkey that is out of control and a baby who will stop at nothing. Armed with a knobbly stick, highly unorthodox methods and quite a lot of magic, she sets about restoring harmony, and it soon becomes clear that the children are not the only members of the family with lessons to learn.

Emma Thompson and Gary Clark write the show

Thompson has written the book, with music by singer-songwriter Gary Clark, the Danny Wilson frontman whose songs for Sing Street reached both screen and stage. The original lyrics are by Thompson and Clark together.

Katy Rudd directs a large creative team

Katy Rudd, whose recent work includes Ballet Shoes and The Ocean at the End of the Lane, directs. Set and costume designs are by Tony and Olivier Award winner Rob Howell, whose credits include Matilda the Musical, and musical staging and choreography are by Ellen Kane, who choreographed Paddington The Musical.

The wider team brings orchestrations by Simon Hale, music supervision by Nigel Lilley, and music arrangements by Hale and Lilley. Lighting design is by Howard Hudson, sound design by Ian Dickinson for Autograph, illusions by Chris Fisher, puppetry by Samuel Wyer and projections by Andrzej Goulding. Casting is by Natalie Gallacher, and Playful Productions is the general manager.

Nanny McPhee is presented by Universal Theatrical Group and Working Title Films, in association with Studiocanal on Stage and MGM on Stage.

Casting and further details

No casting has been announced yet, so the question of who will play the title role remains open. Performance times, running time and age guidance have also still to be confirmed. We will update this story as more details are released.