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EXCLUSIVE: The Emma Thompson-penned musical adaptation of fantasy movie Nanny McPhee, about a witch who possesses magical powers wielded through her walking stick, is being primed to hit London’s West End in 2026, Deadline can reveal.
Oscar-winner Thompson, songwriter Gary Clark and Working Title’s stage division have been developing the production, based on the 2005 film directed by Kirk Jones, which starred Thompson in the title role, on and off for over a decade.
Olivia Colman played the snaggle-toothed nanny at an early workshop in London of the musical in 2018. This was confirmed to me at the time by Thompson, who praised Colman’s “wonderful” performance. Lily James and Rory Kinnear also took part in the original workshop. Sophie Thompson participated in later test-runs.
Colman has not been involved in subsequent run-throughs, but that doesn’t rule out her possible involvement in the West End.
My sources, who declined to be quoted on the record, stressed that there had been “no casting conversations of any kind,” adding, “There’s no point talking to anyone until we have booked a theater and confirmed dates.”
However, there’s much activity going on behind the scenes now that director Katy Rudd has officially signed on to direct the show. The early work on the musical was overseen by Thompson, then Rudd was brought in to direct a later series of workshops.
Rudd’s productions as director include Ballet Shoes, currently running at the National Theatre, When Winston Went to War with the Wireless at the Donmar Warehouse, Camp Siegfried at the Old Vic and The Ocean at the End of the Lane, which played at the National and in the West End. She worked as associate director on Groundhog Day and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time.
“She and Emma are working hand in glove,” on the Nanny McPhee musical, a source tell us.
Deadline hears that 2026 is looking likeliest for a debuts, as the source noted “there are just no big theaters available” at the moment.
Representatives from the major theater owners — Andrew Lloyd Webber’s LW Theatres, Cameron Mackintosh’s Delfont Mackintosh Theatres, Nica Burns and Max Weitzenhoffer’s Nimax Theatres, the Ambassador Theatre Group and Nederlander Theatres — were invited to a staged reading several months ago and, judging from comments, there’s much enthusiasm for the musical based on the beloved movie.
The film also starred Colin Firth as a widower who requires a nanny to look after his unruly offspring. The Artful Dodger star Thomas Brodie-Sangster played one of the children. Imelda Staunton played the cook with Kelly Macdonald as a scullery maid. Angela Lansbury played the formidable Lady Adelaide Stitch, the family’s great-aunt.
Nanny McPhee, a strict disciplinarian, clad in black, arrives uninvited to rid the recalcitrant children of their worst habits. The better behaved the children are, the nicer she is to them. Sounds about right to me.
Thompson based the musical and the two Nanny McPhee movies on Christianna Brand’s Nurse Matilda tales first published in 1964. Thompson has written the show’s book and penned the lyrics with Clark who also composed the score.
The stern-looking but soft-hearted nanny has a habit of startling people by dropping in unheralded, uttering: “I did knock.” A handful of illusions have been developed for the stage production, including one that apparently involves the “I did knock” trick.
Nanny McPhee’s favourite comment is: “When you need me, but don’t want me, then I’ll stay. But when you want me, but longer need me, then I’ll have to go.”
