My Neighbour Totoro celebrates its official West End opening night

Last night the RSC stage adaptation of My Neighbour Totoro celebrated its official opening night in London’s West End.

WhatsOnStage was invited to the green grass carpet to soak up the atmosphere, and earlier we caught up with the show’s leading ladies – Ami Okumura Jones (who returns to the role of Satsuki, following the Barbican runs) and Victoria Chen (who has taken on the role of Mei) – alongside adaptor Tom Morton-Smith and WhatsOnStage Award-winning director Phelim McDermott, to get their thoughts on bringing the much-loved Studio Ghibli tale to the Gillian Lynne Theatre’s stage.

Check out our opening night video below:

My Neighbour Totoro explores the magical fantasy world of childhood and the transformative power of imagination, following one extraordinary summer in the lives of sisters Satsuki and Mei.

The RSC production broke the Barbican’s box office record for most tickets sold in a single day when it was first announced and received critical acclaim in 2022. Since then, it has gone from strength to strength, winning five WhatsOnStage Awards and six Olivier Awards, and returning to the Barbican for a second sell-out run in 2023.

The West End cast also includes Dai Tabuchi (as Tatsuo), Jacqueline Tate (as Granny), Ai Ninomiya (as the Singer), Phyllis Ho (as Yasuko), Steven Nguyen (as Kanta), Jamie Zubairi (as Hiroshi) and Deanna Myers (as Tsukiko), while the show’s Kazego puppetry ensemble features Rachel Clare Chan, Sally Cheng, Sabrina Pui Yee Chin, Victor Itang, Gabriel S Janoras, Anna Kato, Heather Lai, Ronnie Lee, Matthew Leonhart, Kumiko Mendl (also Nurse Emiko), Annakanako Mohri, Lucy Park, Richard Peralta, Chloe Ragrag, and Shaofan Wilson (also Miss Hara). The Swing puppeteers are Boaz Chad, Wenshin Lee, Amber Lin, Sera Maehara and Nathaniel Tan.

My Neighbour Totoro has production design by Tom Pye, costume design by Kimie Nakano, lighting design by Jessica Hung Han Yun, movement by You-Ri Yamanaka and puppetry design and direction by Basil Twist.

The production features music from Hisaishi’s iconic score in a new orchestration by Will Stuart, performed live with sound design by Tony Gayle. Video design is by Finn Ross and Andrea Scott.

Artwork for the stage adaptation of My Neighbour Totoro includes a hand-drawn title by Toshio Suzuki, producer for Studio Ghibli.

Tickets for the West End production are on sale below.