Matthew Bourne's THE CAR MAN to return to London as part of 2026 UK tour

It made its debut in 2000 and won the Evening Standard Award for Musical Event of the Year and the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award for Best Choreography. It will return to London's Sadler's Wells for a summer run as part of the UK tour, which kicks off at Curve Theatre in Leicester in June.

The Car Man is loosely based on Bizet’s ever-popular opera and is known for being one of the most thrilling and instantly recognisable scores in the New Adventures' repertoire, after The Red Shoes and Swan Lake. Set in a greasy 1950's garage-diner in the American Mid-West, the dreams and passions of a small town are shattered when a handsome and enigmatic stranger arrives. The Car Man will draw audiences in with its tale of heat and desire from one of the greatest dance choreographers of our time, Sir Matthew Bourne.

Matthew Bourne said today: “I never dreamed when we created this show at the beginning of the new millennium that it would still be around, thrilling audiences, 25 years later! Inspired by vintage movie film noir classics, it holds a unique and special place in the New Adventures repertory as the only piece based on an opera and possibly the first ballet to feature a bi-sexual anti-hero! I’m particularly happy that we are taking the show “on the road” again after more than 10 years and I can’t wait to re-visit the hot and steamy town of Harmony USA – the best place to be next Summer!”

Directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne, The Car Man features music by Terry Davies & Rodion Shchedrin’s Carmen Suite (after Bizet’s Carmen), with sound by Paul Groothuis, lighting by Chris Davey and design by Lez Brotherston.

The cast for this production's return is to be announced.

The Car Man will play at Sadler's Wells from 28 July - 29 August 2026.

Car Man Tickets