I’ve by no means seen an episode of The Great British Bake-off and had by no means heard of a soggy backside till I went to see Jake Brunger and Pippa Cleary’s latest musical, primarily based on the highly regarded television collection.
Written throughout lockdown, The Great British Bake-off Musical is a light-weight comedy that tells the story of eight contestants, all vying for the grand prize (and that oh-so-rare golden handshake). There isn’t a lot substance to it however there’s a good little story behind it of loss and longing and the way we use issues like baking to distract ourselves from the concerns of life.
Haydn Gwynne is sensational as Pam Lee and as soon as I realised she wasn’t portraying Mary Berry issues made much more sense! It was refreshing to see John Owen-Jones painting a comedy character (Phil Hollinghurst) and show he has extra to supply than simply his unbelievable voice in Phantom and Les Mis. Charlotte Wakefield carries the present as our most important character, the unconfident ‘Gemma’ who feels she has misplaced her place on the planet.
Zoe Birkett and Scott Paige are excellent as TV presenters Kim and Jim. The excellent comedy duo – I’d watch any present they hosted (maybe a stagey YouTube channel could possibly be of their future).
Grace Mouat performs the stereotypical imply woman Izzy effectively, messing with the opposite contestants, attempting to smash their probabilities of profitable. Jay Saighal provides comedy to the present as Dezza, first voted off of the competitors however sneaking again at any doable second. Aharon Rayner brings a heat fuzzy feeling with the character Hassan and the legendary Claire Moore brings east finish London humour with ‘Babs’.
The Great British Bake-off Musical oozes with cheese. It’s fluffy and enjoyable however it is aware of what it’s and by some means manages to make it (principally) not cringe-worthy. Some of the accents had been questionable and could possibly be labored on however total the forged had been excellent. The music is enjoyable and catchy and even the cringey ‘Slap It Like That’ by some means finds a spot within the present.
I loved it a lot greater than I believed I’d and I think about these conversant in the television present will assume it’s baking superb!
Reviewed by West End Wilma