The New Paddington Musical Is Warming Everyone’s Hearts

On Nov. 1, Paddington: The Musical had its first preview showing at the Savoy Theater in London, England. The musical follows the events of the first Paddington movie, with a few plot changes. Luckily, this has not yet deterred viewers or people online from expressing their excitement about the musical, despite the limited viewings. Many users on X are unable to see the musical as it is only playing in London at this time. Despite the distance, everyone has fallen in love with the puppet design used for Paddington Bear in the musical. 

Paddington is not a costume; rather, he is a puppet animatronic that is controlled off-screen by James Hameed and Arti Shah. Hameed expertly voices the bear and controls Paddington’s mouth, while Shah is inside the costume, acting as Paddington and controlling his movements. This is an incredibly clever way of solving the issues that can arise when using two actors for one character.

The musical’s plot

Despite the musical not being available to watch until the official debut date of Nov. 30, I watched a YouTube review by MickeyJoTheatre, who attended the first showing. The musical follows the events of the first Paddington movie. However, rather than simply making the movie directly into a play, producers Sonia Friedman and Eliza Lumley have altered Paddington’s story to feel unique yet authentic to the film. Since this isn’t the official release of the musical but only the preview performances, only two songs from the score have been released to the public: “Pretty Little Dead Things” and “The Bear & The Explorer.” More songs from the score will be released later. 

As stated before, there are some minor changes to the plot, mainly that we do not see Paddington’s time in Peru or his other family members. There are also some changes to the Brown family within the musical: mostly, they spend time exploring the different members of the family and fleshing them out more. The mother, Mrs. Brown, actually gets a song to herself that explores her reasoning for agreeing to let Paddington stay with the family.

There is also a significant change in Ms. Bird’s character in the musical compared to the movie, turning her from a housekeeper into a family member. The message of Paddington has always been to treat those who are seeking refuge in your country with kindness, which is maintained in the musical. Paddington has always been an immigrant, and the musical makes this extremely clear in its writing and storytelling, which, in the current political climate, is a vital message that I’m glad to see kept alive. 

Public reactions

Since the release of Paddington The Musical, I have yet to see any negative reviews or comments online. All of the posts I’ve seen have discussed how adorable Paddington is in the show, with one X user stating, “I feel so maternal toward him. I know if he was trapped under a 3500lb car, I could lift it.” Many other online users have agreed that the Paddington Bear puppet is adorable and has increased their excitement and desire to see the musical.

It seems this excitement has worked and encouraged the Savoy Theatre to extend the musical’s run by a year, which is incredible, as the musical’s official release has yet to occur. Hopefully, with all of this hype, the musical will be brought to America so that everyone can enjoy the wonders of Paddington beyond the movies. 

• entertainment
• music
• musical theatre
• musicals
• paddington