As I left this hotly anticipated new musical about everybody’s favorite Peruvian marmalade-lover, one query resounded in my mind: Is it doable to provide a present six stars?
Sure, it truly is that good. Given it’s been in growth for practically a decade, and with super-producer Sonia Friedman on the helm, you’d count on it to be a supremely polished piece of labor. However it’s a lot greater than that, brimming over with wit and humanity. And it made me (and, I famous, different viewers members too) shed quite a lot of tears.
The furry one is performed by two individuals mixed – Arti Shah on-stage within the costume itself, and James Hameed, offering his voice and controlling his facial expressions from off-stage – and the result’s magical and seamless.
By no means for a second do you are feeling like Paddington is any much less actual than any of the opposite people on stage. All credit score too, to Tahra Zafar for designing him to have a look at as soon as so expressive and but completely teddy-bear-like. His unhappy face is extra devastating than the complete Ibsen performs.
Broadly following the occasions of the primary movie, the story comprises all of the enjoyable japery and emotional beats you’d count on. However in some respects, it’s even higher, including in some nice further element, huge and small – from increasing on Mrs Brown’s frustrations as a burned-out mum, to together with the wonderful new character of pompous Geographers’ Guild head Girl Sloane.
The latter is performed with extraordinary vowel sounds by Amy Sales space-Metal – her hysterical pronunciation of ‘member’ as ‘mumba’ will stick lengthy within the reminiscence – and he or she is one of some comedian supporting performers who do their finest to steal the present; one other is Tom Edden, because the Browns’ infuriating, meddling neighbour Mr Curry, who’s completely snivelling and has some nice viewers interplay.
In the meantime, musical theatre stalwart Victoria Hamilton-Barritt is fabulously camp because the vaguely Miss Trunchbull-coded villainess, taxidermist Millicent Clyde.
However, of their comparatively straighter roles, the actors starring because the Brown household are additionally heart-tuggingly very good. A specific stand-out is Amy Ellen Richardson as Mrs Brown: radiantly sort but in addition very actual in her life anxieties, alongside Paddington himself, she is the present’s different true anchor.
Credit score for this triumph ought to go to a few individuals most of all, although: the director Luke Sheppard, who marshals the motion grippingly and delivers some sensible set items, like Paddington’s clumsy ruination of his new residence; the present’s guide author Jessica Swale, who is aware of precisely the best way to lower sentimentality with correct funnies; and Tom Fletcher, frontman of McFly, whose songs constantly hit the spot.
Paddington The Musical: All the things you should know
The place is Paddington The Musical being staged?
Paddington the Musical is presently taking part in on the Savoy Theatre in London’s West Finish, with tickets accessible till October 25, 2026.
The place can I purchase tickets?
Tickets for Paddington The Musical can be found from atgtickets.com.
Costs vary from £25 to almost £300 primarily based on efficiency occasions and seat areas.
How lengthy is the present?
Paddington the Musical is roughly two hours and 45 minutes lengthy, together with an interval.
What’s Paddington The Musical about?
An official synopsis for the present reads: ‘When a small, misplaced bear from Peru arrives in London in quest of a brand new residence, an opportunity encounter with the Brown household leads him to the great world of Windsor Gardens.
‘However London isn’t all afternoon teas and pleasant faces – and even the happiest households have their cracks beneath the floor. So when a mysterious and vengeful villain units her sights on Paddington, the Browns embark on an exhilarating rescue mission, realising they want this particular bear as a lot as he wants them.’
From The Rhythm of London, a calypso-infused paean to our capital, to the sultry Adele-like pastiche of Millicent’s All the things you By no means Had been, they’re playful and eclectic.
And at first of the second half, there’s even a gloriously OTT tribute to Marmalade, choreographed like an old-school Hollywood musical quantity, and that includes bouncy oranges and a marmalade fountain; it makes for a delightfully surreal Interlude.
Oh, and I haven’t even talked about Tom Pye’s attractive, towering set design, which options stunning, atmospheric takes on Paddington station and 32 Windsor Gardens, amongst different locales. Simply as Paddington finds secure haven within the capital, so I’ve a sense this present has discovered a house within the West Finish for a very long time to return.
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