The Great British Bake Off Musical At The Noel Coward Theatre, London Review

Reviewed by Hilz

‘Mouthwateringly good!’

It was joyous.
The best laugh I have had in a very long time.
Anyone who is a fan of the current series with Paul and Prue will love it.

Phil and Pam represented Paul and Prue.
Phil was frankly exceptional.
He took off Paul’s mannerisms to a ‘T’ – his stance, his gait, his hands in the pockets, his one raised eyebrow..
And his styling was spot-on too – the hair, blue shirt..
Prue had the outfits, the glasses, the jewellery and charm of the original, plus some unexpected and rather excellent acrobatics!

This is a star-studded cast – the singing was amazing and we found it impossible to pick a standout performance because everyone was fantastic!

The songs are catchy, and though I had not heard any of them before they were instantly likeable. Top class. As was the orchestra.

Another delight was the ‘choreography‘. What I mean, is not particularly dance moves, but mixing bowl, wooden spoon and dough moves! As in synchronised dough ‘slapping’ spoon waving and bowl tossing. Very clever indeed. And such fun to watch.

And the writing is outstanding – very clever and utterly hilarious.
I have not laughed so much at a show in years!

Each character was a sort of caricature of the types of contestants they tend to pick for the show. I could literally name some of the people that were taken off by the actors. The humour was absolutely brilliant.

The stories behind the contestants going on the show – their reasons for doing it – add another interesting and emotional dimension. Each one goes on a personal journey. I won’t say too much about these so as not to give away any spoilers but there is a sweet sweet love story mingled in.

Lily, the 9 year old in the show also added an unexpected extra dimension – and what a rising star – her singing voice was incredible as was her stage presence, her acting skills.. I could go on and on!

From the first song, people were clapping and whooping at the performances.
Some of our favourites were:
‘Obviously‘ by Izzy – incredible voice
‘Somewhere in the dough’ by Gemma – poignant, pulling at the heart strings and making you warm to her instantly
‘Slap it like that‘ by Phil and company – completely bonkers in a wonderful way – and yes .. I had watched the episode when that happened
‘Grow‘ by Francesca – I cried..
‘My dad‘ by Lily
‘The perfect petit fours recipe’ by Gemma and Ben – two amazing voices..
‘Don’t send me home‘ by all the bakers
‘Babs, lament‘ by Babs – oh my word, where do I start? This piece got the biggest cheers and applause of the whole show, what a performance, sooo funny – won’t spoil it for you with any details…
And ‘Rise’, by Gemma – both uplifting and empowering

If you are a fan of Bake Off and watch the series then you will absolutely love this show. If you didn’t watch the show or didn’t watch it much you may not understand some of the jokes and therefore sadly miss out on some of the fun, but you will still have a good time!

A hilarious heartwarming feel good show.

Don’t miss this!

Rating: 5/5 Stars

The Great British Bake Off Musical is showing at
The Noel Coward Theatre
Saint Martin’s Lane
London
WC2N 4AU
until 13th May

For more information please see here.
Prices start from £17.75 and can be bought here.