Paddington musical review: the bear’s a bit clunky, but the show is warm and fuzzy
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, which has been shrouded in secrecy for seven years during production but has finally landed 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 person inside the costume (Abbie Purvis and Ali Sarebani alternate as on-stage performers). 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’s mouth is fairly clunky, without the depth of movement to simulate real speech. When live lines are amplified from the side of the stage by designer-performer James Hameed, the mouth opens and closes more like a Sesame Street puppet than anything resembling ‘real’ speech.
It dampens the magic somewhat, but you get over it. Forget that mid-sized quibble and Paddington mostly looks great transplanted from the mind’s eye to the stage. You can barely take your eye off the genial little bear as he draws on comedy (darting around knocking over crockery) and heartstrings (his song The Explorer & The Bear is one of the wonderfully tender moments).
Technological inventiveness has gripped the headlines, but Paddington the Musical at its core is actually a fairly analogue musical experience, a fairly conventional piece of musical theatre that is sustainably quality without relying on particularly viral moments, gimmicks or tricks. Instead Luke Sheppard’s overall show is a wholesome homage. Just nice songs and a decent ensemble held together by some brilliant writing. What more could you want?
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 and his journey moving into the Brown family home 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 been transplanted, including 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 as a former bad-ass kick boxer. 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 gate keeps 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 marmalade prance around singing about it. It’s the only properly high energy musical moment, but the score is strong nonetheless: highlights include slapstick number Don’t Touch That, rock opera moment Pretty Little Dead Things and the homage to the capital’s Caribbean community, The Rhythm of London.
Of the polished cast, praise must be particularly heaped on Tom Edden’s hilarious Mr Curry, who gets some of the best lines thanks to Jessica Swale’s brilliantly taut writing, 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.
There’s glossy, high production value and oodles of furry, fuzzy heart, transplanted gorgeously to the stage thanks to Tom Pye’s glistening sets and Gabriella’s Slade’s abundant costumes. Pack your marmalade sandwiches, this hit will surely be on for decades.
The Paddington musical is playing at the Savoy Theatre