Paddington musical review and star rating: ★★★★
It feels like a fairly strange point in history when The Guardian “exclusively reveal” Paddington bear, transplanted from Michael Bond’s novels to the Savoy Theatre. Such has been the enormous hype around this musical, in production for seven years and finally landing at The Savoy.
Why the hype? Two practitioners stir the Peruvian beast to life every night on stage, one man reading his lines and controlling the animatronic eyes and mouth, one lady inside the costume. On opening night, every time the bear appeared in a new outfit, the delighted audience made the types of ‘ooh’ and ‘aaah’ sounds they really should reserve for the bedroom.
Three well-received films and 30 books have mythologised the bear, but can Paddington the Musical keep up? What sticks is that the much-hyped animatronic bear, in development for seven years, is clunky, without the depth of mouth and facial movement to simulate real speech. When live lines are amplified from the side of the stage by designer James Hameed, the bear’s mouth looks more like Elmo from Sesame Street than anything resembling real jaw movements.
It kills the magic somewhat, but you get over it. Forget that mid-sized quibble and they’ve done a rollickingly good job. Paddington looks great transplanted from the mind’s eye to the stage. You can’t take your eye off him; as much as he’s impossibly cute to watch run around, it’s fun just to marvel at his existence: his furry, genial presence never tires. The huns in from the suburbs coo the whole way through.
Technological inventiveness has gripped the headlines, but Paddington the Musical at its core is actually fairly analogue as new musicals go. It is largely a conventional piece of musical theatre that is sustainably quality without relying on viral moments, gimmicks or tricks. Instead Luke Sheppard’s vision is a wholesome homage. Just nice songs, a decent ensemble and sharp, decently funny writing.
Paddington musical: Lady Sloane is totally hilarious, a thigh-slapping posho parody
Adapted from the first Paddington movie, we follow the Peruvian bear‘s arrival in London where he moves in with the Brown family in a posh West London suburb. It’s a pacey retelling of the story of in which Colonial-coded old money baddie Millicent Clyde hunts Paddington in an attempt to stuff him to complete her father’s collection of rare apothecary (he didn’t manage to catch a Peruvian bear in the 1950s so she wants to finish his work for him). The motley crew have also been transplanted, including nosy neighbour Mr Curry, wise antique store owner Mr Gruber and housekeeper Mrs Bird.
The narrative lines of particularly the female characters have been elevated and given feminist spins. Mrs Bird – played by Julie Walters in the film – has a fun backstory about her being a former bad-ass kickboxer. Millicent Clyde is also more hammed up and Lady Sloane, who didn’t appear in the films but is in Bond’s book, is a thigh-slapping posho parody as the ivory towered clerk who gatekeeps a geographical society that tries to kibosh the Brown family’s attempt to save Paddington.
The music by former McFly guy Tom Fletcher is replete with a diverse array of ear worms, particularly act two’s opener Marmalade, a sublime, whimsical homage to the orange stuff in which dancers dressed like the orange stuff prance around singing about it. It’s the only totally full-throttle scene comparable with the likes of the Consider Yourself in Oliver or the finale of 42nd Street. There’s slapstick with Don’t Touch That, a shade of rock opera in Pretty Little Dead Things and an homage to the capital’s Caribbean community in The Rhythm of London.
Of the polished cast, praise must be particularly heaped on Tom Edden’s hilarious Mr Curry – thanks to Jessica Swale’s brilliantly taut writing – who gets some of the best jokes, and Amy Booth-Steel’s thigh-splitting toff Lady Sloane. Oh, and Bonnie Langford who plays Mrs Bird, now in her sixties, can still do a vertical kick. Pack your marmalade sandwiches, this hit will surely still be on in a decade.
The Paddington musical is playing at the Savoy Theatre