Look for the Bear Necessities
Paddington (Savoy Theatre) - Guest Review by Dr Terror
The Paddingtonisation of London is complete. Walk through the West End and everywhere you look are key fobs, t-shirts, coffee mugs and little cuddly Paddington Bears. In what was once County Hall, you can have The Paddington Experience. Just as Brussels has Tintin and Prague has Svejk, the capital has well and truly found its mascot. Step off your train and, just as you venture outside the station, a huge, colourful bear mural proclaims (in a line from this show) 'Mrs Brown says that everyone in London is different and that means that anyone can fit in.' You're not too surprised? What if I told you the station in question was Waterloo?
And so, inevitably, Dr Terror found himself next to the Savoy Hotel, taking a seat for what, with its clutch of Olivier Awards, is the most expensive show in London, quite possibly the world.
And he loved it.
Dr Terror has never been one for sentimental tosh. ET's appeal was completely lost on him. But that was an American film. The British don't do sentimentality. No wonder Rent has never been a success on these shores. And so it is here: the minute things threaten to get treacly, a little wit, a little wink at the audience, punctures the saccharine balloon.
And it plays fair. Every penny of your ticket price is up there on the stage. The opening set of Mr Gruber's Portobello Road curiosity shop alone is breathtaking (I loved the stuffed dodo...though, with hindsight, I see that it encompassed foreshadowing). There is naturally a former Doctor Who companion on the bill and Bonnie Langford's big number almost steals the show, but the song you leave the theatre humming (and this would never happen in a show originating on Broadway) is a hymn to a breakfast staple: 'Mar-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-marmalade!' It's the ultimate earworm. You'll still be humming it a fortnight later.
Paddington himself? Kind, amusing and with a voice very, very like Ben Whishaw's and perfect lip synching. The plot? It's more or less like the first film, except that the characters are much more nuanced and there's a Cockney-speaking pigeon. The message of inclusivity and the benefits of immigration lands stronger and the gags are better too. When our hero has been kidnapped, the Brown family desperately asks ' Do you know where Paddington is?' 'Yes,' replies Mr Curry. 'It's in the Bakerloo Line between Edgeware Road and Warwick Avenue'.
Worth every penny.