REVIEW: Paddington The Musical – ShinyShiny

The bear from Peru is finally brought to life on the London stage. Paddington aficionado Chris Price approves…

Full disclosure. I’m a massive Paddington fan. I have been hooked ever since I first read Michael Bond’s books, watched the TV programmes in the 1970s and bought the bears, complete with duffle coat, hat and wellies. I’ve loved all three films too (the best one though is definitely 2017’s Paddington 2).

But when I heard that there was a Paddington Musical coming to London I really wasn’t sure about it at first. Was this taking the franchise just a little too far? Might it just be a little too saccharine sweet for my tastes, rather than the slightly sharper flavour of orange marmalade? And might it just be too, well, childish?

After all, Paddington – the books and films – work on different levels. Yes, on one level, it’s about a bear getting into mischief in the UK’s capital (and in Peru in the case of the third film).

But on another, it’s about belonging, acceptance, tolerance of others and, yes, good manners – based on author Michael Bond’s seeing Jewish child refugees arriving on the ‘kindertransport’ at Paddington Station during World War II with little more than a name tag and a suitcase.

Going on a bear hunt

Could a musical really do justice to Bond’s original vision for Paddington? The answer is yes. Sort of. OK in terms of the story it’s little more than a ‘best of’ from the three films – essentially a re-telling of the first one, starring Nicole Kidman as the evil taxidermist who wants to see Paddington stuffed and exhibited in London’s Natural History Museum.

But Paddington: The Musical is much more than the basic story , of course. It’s about the songs, the spirit and the small matter of an onstage bear. Before the performance, I had wondered about just how they would bring Pads to life and whether he would he look ‘right’ on stage.

I needn’t have worried. Appropriately enough he’s played by Arti Shah – an actor with dwarfism who regularly speaks to schools about ‘being different’. Bond would certainly approve. Meanwhile, controlling the bear is an off-stage puppeteer (James Hameed) responsible for Paddington’s voice and facial expressions to really bring him to life.

I have to say from the moment I saw Paddington appear on stage I was hooked. Even the songs written by McFly’s Tom Fletcher, which sounded sickly sweet and cloying when I first heard them on YouTube, were enjoyable. Some were even a little risqué including Marmalade sung at the beginning of Act 2 which referred to ‘taking the pith’.

Others, like Pretty Little Dead Things, were quite dark and sinister – Victoria Hamilton-Barrit playing the role of evil taxidermist Millicent Clyde like 101 Dalmatians’ Cruella de Vil.

London loves

Perhaps what comes through the musical more than anything is a love of London. In many ways it’s a perfect antidote to the world of social media in which the capital is far too often depicted as a den of vice, a ‘fallen city’ (whatever that means) overrun by immigrants. (They probably said the same of the protestant Huguenots who first flooded here in the 16^th century to avoid religious persecution in France).

Just like the wonderful depiction of London in the pop-up book discovered by Paddington in Mr Gruber’s store in Paddington 2 (or ‘popping book’ as the Hungarian Mr Gruber calls it), we see London in all its glory in this musical. There are the usual red telephone boxes, dancing beefeaters and bobbies on the beat, of course.

There’s even ‘Hank the Pigeon’ who lives inside a dustbin spouting cockney rhyming slang – some of it definitely intended for the grown-ups rather than children when he talks about taking the Mickey Bliss (piss) and getting a kick in the ‘cream crackers’ (knackers or testicles).

But best of all is the obligatory replica London cab on stage, driven by taxi driver cum local busybody Mr Curry. Played by Peter Capaldi in the Paddington movies, here he’s a much more rounded character superbly depicted by Tom Edden.

Yes he is still the interfering character we know and love from the films but he’s also much more likeable too – flawed but funny, keen to do the right thing but all too often getting everything completely wrong!

Stand-out performances

Indeed, except for Paddington of course, it’s probably Edden’s role as Mr Curry that stands out more than any other in the musical. Although also noteworthy is ‘West End legend’ Bonnie Langford who plays The Browns’ Scottish housekeeper, Mrs Bird.

Not only does she get to utter some wonderful lines reflecting a past as varied and eclectic as Nessa’s in Gavin and Stacey, but she also nearly steals the show completely by doing the splits on stage – not bad at all for a 61-year-old!

Really there’s something for all the family in Paddington: The Musical. Gloriously life-affirming and magical. you’ll laugh out loud as well as most likely shed a tear.

I must admit I was guilty of blubbing too, especially during the Dear Aunt Lucy song at the end, when the almost ghost-like Aunt Lucy reflects on everything the people of London, including The Browns, have done to make Paddington feel like he finally belongs. It’s really heart-warming stuff.

Paddington: The Musical is on at The Savoy Theatre, London. For tickets, click here.