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Here is the Peruvian bear as we have never seen him before – or so we are led to believe from the marketing of this musical, which is based on the beloved 2014 film, based on Michael Bond’s beloved books. But this is in fact exactly how we have seen him before: initially alone in Paddington station with marmalade sandwiches under his felt hat and a pleading look in his eye for strangers to be kind to outsiders such as him.
This is not new fare, even if Paddington is brought to life with state-of-the-art animatronics: James Hameed is his voice and remote puppeteer, while Arti Shah is under his furry skin on stage (puppet design by Tahra Zafar). The Brown family are recognisable from the star-studded film: risk-averse dad (Adrian Der Gregorian), arty mum (Amy Ellen Richardson), adolescent Judy (Delilah Bennett-Cardy) and encyclopaedia-chomping wee Jonathan (Jasper Rowse on the night of attendance), along with houseguest Mrs Bird (Bonnie Langford, in national treasure mode).
So why do we need this Paddington in our lives?
Well, because it simply comes together so well. Splendiferously well, in fact. This is the new Mary Poppins: a well-known story imaginatively staged, immaculately performed and utterly winning.
Tom Fletcher’s songs are marvellous, Jessica Swale’s book earnest, Ellen Kane’s choreography vigorous. Directed by Luke Sheppard, it is really very beautiful in its set design (by Tom Pye), beginning in Mr Gruber’s shop of curiosities and featuring sweeping immersive effects (with next-level projections designed by Ash J Woodward). There are confetti, “lost bear” leaflet drops, and surprise water jets fired at the audience.
The family experience their tensions, though not enough to dampen our spirits, while puppet Paddington is adorable: pensive and childlike by turns. Hameed’s singing voice is astounding, and when he wanders on for some solo numbers as a human shadow, it is strangely moving. There is fabulous ensemble song and dance, polished to a gleam, with nods to musical theatre across the board, from vaudevillian slapstick to chorus numbers (Hard Stare is great fun) and big show tunes (Marmalade is an absolute blast).
But it is Victoria Hamilton-Barritt who steals the show as Paddington’s nemesis, the taxidermist Millicent Clyde. Her song Pretty Little Dead Things is the best of the lot. Add to that Hamilton-Barritt’s extraordinary vocals, her sultry, comic performance, and a shoulder-padded foxtail look reminiscent of wartime Marlene Dietrich, and you have a magnetic villain with serious daddy issues.
Sure it is full of schmaltz and cliched Englishness – Beefeaters, church bells, men with umbrellas, and dustbin men who look like Dick Van Dyke’s chimney sweep. But it is self-consciously done and knowingly verges on parody – Geographers’ Guild members march on to speak of empire and the Elgin marbles, as one example.
The plot follows that of the film without being parasitic, with some added strands and characters, such as Judy’s boyfriend Tony (Timi Akinyosade) and his British Caribbean mother (Brenda Edwards), who bring a too-smiley multiculturalism but also some great calypso undertones to songs such as The Rhythm of London.
Some characters do seem derivative, such as Mr Curry (Tom Edden), the lanyard-wearing taxi driver who here channels Alan Carr with a jingoistic twist. Messages about the importance of kindness and acceptance are laid on with a trowel. Paddington, it is clear, is the foreign outsider being othered. Ideas around offering refuge work better in the subtle reference to Mr Gruber’s Kindertransport journey. It chimes importantly in today’s landscape of anti-immigrant fear and loathing.
It is evident that the production is not driven by cynicism to cash in on a very British brand – although it will likely bring in tourists in their hordes. The final few scenes feel extraneous and it is slightly over-long, but you would have to be a cynic yourself to find fault in this gorgeous world of bearish adventure.
