Paddington Bear is universally loved by children and adults. Michael Bond wrote the first of 27 books in 1958. There have been several television series and three films. Paddington even had tea and a marmalade sandwich with Queen Elizabeth during her Jubilee celebrations.
Now there is a musical, five years in the making, two months of rehearsals and two months of previews. I see the final preview. The creation of a cultural icon on stage is astonishing. The puppetry is brilliant.
The music and lyrics are by Tom Fletcher. The book by Jessica Swale is based on Bond’s first book A Bear Called Paddington and the film, Paddington.
The spectacular production, directed by Luke Sheppard and designed by Tom Pye, is 2 hours 45 minutes long and would benefit from cutting.
Paddington is adorable, an innocent, polite and heart-warming charmer, full of kindness, generosity and optimism. He is played by James Hameed and Arti Shah. Hammed is the voice and remote puppeteer off-stage. Shah is the on-stage performer. The range of emotion is expressed by body language. The performance is believable and magical.
Adrian Der Gregorian and Amy Ellen Richardson are Mr and Mrs Brown who befriend Paddington. Victoria Hamilton-Barritt is the strutting villainess, cat-walking the stage, and keen on taxidermy There are scene-stealing broad comic turns by Tom Edden and Amy Booth-Steel.
One of the musical’s high spots is Marmalade, the joyful, colourful, exuberant ensemble opening number to the second act. The choreography is by Ellen Kane. Another high spot is It’s Never Too Late, a duet sung and danced by Bonnie Langford and Tarrin Callender.
Langford made her name as a child actor playing Baby June in Gypsy in 1973 when she was nine years old. Now 61 she can still high kick and do the splits
Paddington The Musical is a super family friendly show. Such is its popularity, booking has already been extended to October 2026.
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