It was the biggest reaction to a star entrance I’ve ever seen in a theatre. A few minutes into the world premiere of Paddington The Musical, the (human) actors stepped aside to reveal a small ursine figure, who quietly took in the Savoy stage with his warm brown eyes, snout raised to sniff the air. Over 1,000 audience members gasped, cheered and ecstatically applauded.
We have been feverishly speculating about the Paddington mystery ever since this West End musical, inspired by Michael Bond’s books and the equally gorgeous films, was announced. While the rest of the cast, which includes veteran actress Bonnie Langford as Mrs Bird, and creative team, led by composer Tom Fletcher (of McFly), book writer Jessica Swale and director Luke Sheppard, was divulged in advance, all info on the Paddington actors and designers has been kept top secret – until now. So, how on earth do you put a bear on stage? I wondered if we might see a puppet, à la War Horse or Disney’s Frozen, or a high-tech animatronic or virtual avatar.
