'Paddington The Musical' review — everyone’s favourite small bear becomes a massive West End hit

Read our review of Tom Fletcher and Jessica Swale's Paddington The Musical, now in performances at the Savoy Theatre to 25 October 2026.

Summary

• Paddington The Musical brings the iconic bear to the West End stage
• The show is written by Tom Fletcher and Jessica Swale and directed by Luke Sheppard
• James Hameed and Arti Shah together star as Paddington
• The brilliant cast also features Amy Ellen Richardson and Bonnie Langford

It must be the most anticipated arrival in entertainment history: just how will Paddington, the beloved bear immortalised in Michael Bond’s books and the lovely movie adaptations, pad onto the Savoy stage? Well, it involves ingenious craft and collaboration, but the all-important result is that the West End’s Paddington is pure theatre magic.

So too is this great big bear hug of a musical, which has an effectively varied score from Tom Fletcher, mixing contemporary ballads and energetic rock with old-school jazzy numbers, and a joyfully witty yet always heartfelt book by Jessica Swale. You end the show cheering, wiping away a tear, and humming the indelible take-home song “Marmalade”.

Luke Sheppard’s production answers our burning question right away by revealing how our hero is brought to life. After James Hameed’s young man picks up a toy bear, he sings, as Paddington, recalling his dangerous journey from Peru to London in search of a new home. Hameed then cedes the stage to Arti Shah in a bear suit (designed by Tahra Zafar), while, in tandem, providing Paddington’s soulful voice.

You admire the brilliance of this solution, then almost immediately you’re caught up in watching our diminutive bear as he’s jostled by unfeeling commuters at Paddington station. He’s almost unbearably cute, with his shaggy fur, inquisitive snout, blinking button eyes and gentle politeness, and also vulnerable: when Mrs Brown reads his label, “Please look after this bear”, it’s impossible not to take that plea to heart.

But the disconnected Brown family need Paddington just as much as he needs them. Mrs Brown, here given a more central role, creates superhero stories and longs to make a difference in real life, while risk analyst Mr Brown is paralysed by fear, son Jonathan prone to parroting encyclopaedia facts, and teenage daughter Judy horribly embarrassed by everything.

Curious Paddington is initially another source of stress: in a zany slapstick sequence, he unwittingly destroys their house, even unravelling kitchen roll like the Andrex puppy. But he also lends a sympathetic ear to the troubled Browns, as well as to numerous other characters.

Hameed (reminiscent of the films’ Ben Whishaw) and Shah are a seamless partnership, together creating a Paddington who can emote through the big, yearning song “The Explorer and the Bear”, but also charge about on stocky legs or wiggle his fuzzy bottom while fixing someone with a hard stare. Everyone lets out an “Aww” when he gets his signature duffel coat, and when Paddington is in jeopardy, it’s genuinely tense.

The sincere Amy Ellen Richardson, visibly anxious Adrian Der Gregorian, convincingly stroppy Delilah Bennett-Cardy and, on my night, cheeky Jasper Rowse are a delight as the Browns, and Victoria Hamilton-Barritt is simply fabulous as scheming taxidermist Millicent Clyde, channelling Cruella de Vil in her operatic villainy.

There are also scene-stealers galore. Bonnie Langford’s lodger Mrs Bird gets a glorious razzle-dazzle showstopper, jubilantly reprised by Tarinn Callender’s put-upon assistant, while Tom Edden, perfectly irksome as rules-obsessed neighbour Mr Curry, lets loose in a sticky, delirious fever dream of a paean to marmalade, complete with dancing oranges (buoyant choreography by Ellen Kane).

Meanwhile Amy Booth-Steel almost walks off with the show in her hysterical turn as Lady Sloane, head of the Geographers’ Guild, who is so posh that she transforms the word “member” into “MUM-ber”. A running gag about the guild being a British Empire relic, still operating by the credo “Finders’ keepers”, is one of many sharp jokes that ensures Paddington is a roar-some show for audiences of all ages, not just kids.

There’s also thoughtful exploration of what family, home and belonging can mean, and how our capital thrives because it’s a cultural melting pot. That’s irresistibly expressed in “The Rhythm of London”, begun by Brenda Edwards’s Caribbean neighbour Tanya, and opened out to involve high-kicking Buckingham Palace guardsmen and bankers waving sparkly Union Jack brollies.

Tom Pye’s wondrous design, a real love letter to London, also features an actual black cab and red telephone box, pastel-coloured Windsor Gardens, and full-size giraffes in the Natural History Museum. Ash J. Woodward’s effective animation gives us a verdant Peruvian jungle and colourful comic book panels spilling out into the auditorium.

There are gleeful stagey in-jokes: Edden correctly boasts that he’s a “triple threat”, and Langford reminds us she was in Cats. That’s all of a piece with a production that wears its theatricality proudly: this is the Paddington we love, but reborn in a distinctly new medium. It invites a live audience in to become part of the story.

It’s also a musical with a hero, and a message, that feels more important than ever to emulate – “Kindness isn’t complicated”. I tip my hat to Paddington: the small bear is a big hit.

Paddington The Musical is at the Savoy Theatre to 25 October 2026. Book Paddington The Musical tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: Paddington The Musical (Photos by Johan Persson)