Paddington the Musical review, Savoy Theatre – Gloriously eccentric adaptation transports this furry legend to the stage

Paddington really has been on a journey. This marmalade-loving Peruvian emigree began life as a series of scratchy pen illustrations in Michael Bond’s midcentury kids’ books, finding friends everywhere with his winning combination of accidental naughtiness and thoughtful charm. Half a century later, three hit movies have made the original stories’ subtext into text. He’s a refugee champion, an icon of multiculturalism, and even a surreal grim reaper leading the late Queen to heaven in the memes that proliferated after her death. And now, in the unlikeliest role of all, he’s a politely swaggering rockstar, unleashing power ballads in a gloriously, lavishly eccentric musical that transports this furry legend to the stage.

The most immediately delightful thing about this show is that they’ve got Paddington absolutely spot on. Who wouldn’t give a home to this bear? He looks so huggable that there’s an audible audience “aww” when Mrs Bird puts his signature blue duffle coat over his soft brown fur. Inside this super-realistic (and no doubt quite warm) suit is 4ft tall actor Arti Shah, who gives him authentically bear-like movements while singer James Hameed lends his incongruously powerful vocals to punchy songs by Tom Fletcher (of McFly fame). At first, Hameed hovers behind Paddington – wearing a rucksack, like a real-life human refugee – before melting away as the story jolts into life.

The plot and general mood here are both loosely based on the first Paddington film, with director Luke Sheppard and set designer Tom Pye creating a warm, multicultural, and gorgeously maximalist evocation of bohemian London. The famous bear crashlands in an inhospitable city, then finds a home with the kindly Brown family. In the glorious setpiece song “Don’t Touch That”, his butter-pawed curiosity nearly destroys the fabric of their home: shelves tilt, white goods explode, and soap bubbles and jets of water burst through the ceiling. Mr Brown (Adrian Der Gregorian) is horrified, Mrs Brown (Amy Ellen Richardson) is maternally concerned, and their kids are confused and delighted. But this story isn’t really about them.

Writer Jessica Swale has got most excited about this story’s oddballs – the caricatures that capture the essential weirdness of the English society Paddington is so keen to join. Neighbourhood Watch stalwart Mr Curry (Tom Edden, who feels like he’s been transplanted from a particularly funny old British sitcom) is a horribly odd Little Englander who’d love to send this furry interloper back to where he came from. More pernicious still is upper-class taxidermist Millicent Clyde, who’s so broken by stiff upper lip parenting practices that only killing and stuffing Paddington will heal her emotional wounds – Victoria Hamilton-Barritt is fantastically camp here, delivering knockout renditions of her bloodcurdling villain song “Pretty Little Dead Things”, when she’s not calling the meddling Browns “scrotes”.

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If you think all this doesn’t exactly sound like classic family show fare, you’d be entirely right. But somehow this production’s edgier, darker touches only heighten the gorgeously bright palette that this story is working in. Sheppard’s staging abounds with warmth, eccentricity and ambition, from its huge-hearted musical numbers to costume designer Gabriella Slade’s cosy multicoloured knitted get-ups. Like a big game hunter, it aims at huge moving targets – and hits them, again and again.

The second half is stuffed with an almost overwhelming number of deliriously fun musical numbers. “Marmalade” is an oh-so-catchy Mary Poppins-esque homage to the sticky stuff featuring a carousel of giant oranges. “It’s Never Too Late” is an excuse for stage legend Bonnie Langford to deliver some showstopping razzmatazz (and even a cartwheel) as Mrs Bird. We probably didn’t need to see “The Geographer’s Guild” crash onto the stage, singing at full blast, just when the Paddington rescue mission is finally gathering steam. But who cares? At a time when the West End’s filling up with underfunded, ill-considered riffs on big-name franchises, we’re finally getting a show that’s made with serious heart, dedication, and enough spectacular special effects to thrill its audiences. It’s almost palpably eager to please – and if you don’t welcome it right into your heart, you might want to check there’s not some marmalade gumming it shut.

‘Paddington the Musical’ is on at Savoy Theatre until October 2026