Is this musical perfectly baked or does it have a soggy bottom? Here’s our review round up….
Broadway World: *** “The visuals are stunning; designer Alice Power has managed to create something very recognisable in the famous white tent, but with a bit of extra flair. The colours are bold and bright, and Ben Cracknell’s excellent lighting design adds the final cherry on the cake.”
The Independent: *** “These moments reveal an unexpectedly offbeat sense of humour in the writing, as well as a willingness to joke about the show itself. Overly complex technical challenges are mocked, while the much-deified Hollywood (sorry, Hollinghurst) handshake becomes the subject of “The Handshake Song”, the contestants swaying on stools like a Nineties boyband as they sing: “At the end of his arm is an infamous palm.” In less self-aware moments, however, the contestants rattle off trivia about the show’s production process, filling time but adding little else to the production.”
Rewrite This Story: **** “Every aspect of Bake Off makes the cut to the musical, from the challenges to the general structure and joke format. Like the tv show, there are innuendos galore and more baking puns than you could fit in the oven, but above that, it really encapsulates the warmth and community feeling that The Great British Bake Off provides. The contestants each get a bit of development and there’s even a romance and some social commentary; all elements feel well thought out and it’s really just a well structured, well oiled (greased?) musical. You couldn’t really ask for a more genuinely touching show. It truly has all the ingredients to be a hit and is so worth seeing!”
Evening Standard: ** “This is low-level entertainment for the undemanding, that never rises to the level of a technical hit, let alone a showstopper.”
The Times: **** “This show has put on a tiny bit of weight since it opened in Cheltenham last July and frankly it looks all the better for it. Yes, the West End incarnation is still as soft-centred as an eclair, but only an arch-curmudgeon could take offence at a celebration of a great British institution. If the storyline makes Love Island look like King Lear, the songs are witty, and Rachel Kavanaugh’s production is suffused with a self-deprecating sense of the ridiculous.”
iNews: *** “Gwynne and Owen-Jones are a delight as barely-disguised versions of Leith and Hollywood, as are Zoe Birkett and Scott Paige as more generic TV presenters.”
The Arts Desk: *** “The writers clearly know their stuff, referring to Bread Week as Dread Week and coming up here and there with amusingly accurate parodies of GBBO challenges – the self-portraits made of focaccia, the esoteric bread from Uruguay nobody has ever seen, let alone eaten. They also throw in some factoids their research has thrown up, such as the crew rising at dawn to test all the ovens with bakes of that day’s featured cakes. But if you aren’t already a GBBO fan, what will keep you watching?”
Time Out: ** “The thing that makes real-life episodes of ‘Bake Off’ enjoyable is the spontaneity, creativity and strangeness of ordinary people. You can’t predict mishaps like Series 4’s ‘wrong custard’ debacle, or invent characters like real-life whimsical baking witch Helena (Series 8). But this musical plods rather than innovates, showing its characters’ half-familiar journeys as they progress from their first technical challenge to the garden party grand final. The grinding predictability of it all pounded my brain into a soft, gooey substance: the kind of thing you could use to fill a pavlova, in a pinch.”
West End Best Friend: **** “Cake is joy. At least that’s what the show’s finale tells us and to be honest, it couldn’t be more accurate, or reflective of the show in which that number sits. The Great British Bake Off Musical may have a slightly underbaked second act, but there’s not a soggy bottom in sight, but possibly a soggy eye or two at times. The show is silly, the show has heart, the show is not trying to change the landscape or force some deep introspection, it’s exactly what it’s meant to be, beautiful escapist joy, and that’s exactly what we need right now.”
Everything Theatre: ***** “The Great British Bake Off Musical is straight forward with an easy-to-follow story, and catchy contemporary musical numbers. It does what the TV show does best, follow a tried and tested recipe. First, weigh up the signature humour, technical mishaps and showstopper innuendos, mix in wholesome and relatable contestants, and bake until it is well-risen, warm and fluffy.”
The Reviews Hub: **** “As warm-hearted and as predictable as the show itself, The Great British Bake Off Musical is a glorious rush of sugar although its gently mocking tone goes some way to make sure that this sugar is not too sweet.”
The Telegraph: **** “This slick, colourful musical adaptation of the all-conquering TV contest has an irresistibly sure sense of that show’s entertainment value.”
The Stage: *** “It is too knowing, yet at the same time too uncertain about its purpose – and ultimately, a bit too vanilla.”
Musical Theatre Review: ***** “This musical captures the vibe of the television show so perfectly that if you do find the original pointless/saccharine/forced/[insert other complaint here], you may hold similar reservations about this incarnation. However, the good news is that nobody is so cold-hearted as to hold such cynical opinions with sufficient conviction that the delightful gaiety of this musical could not win them over. The Great British Bake Off Musical is sure to be an enormous hit, not least with reluctant partners dragged along against their will who find themselves seduced by the pure loveliness of the world depicted. This new British musical is theatre escapism at its heart-warming best.”
London Unattached: “This heart-warming new musical, beautifully directed by Rachel Kavanaugh, delivers an authentic crowd-pleaser, full of wit, charm and well-crafted songs. The music is interwoven with the original Bake Off themes written by Tom Howe. Many of the songs are rooted in 90s pop but are written with a greater level of melodic, harmonic and lyrical sophistication than is often found in contemporary musicals.”
London Theatre.co.uk: **** “But, if the songs feature some knowingly sketchy rhymes (“action” matched with “Michelin”), they’re brilliantly tailored to the characters, creating a mini showcase for each performer. Grace Mouat is deliciously villainous as scheming, ambitious student Izzy; Claire Moore twinkles as naughty grandmother Babs; Michael Cahill is a hoot as camp inventor Russell; Jay Saighal brings alarming intensity to eco-conscious Dezza; and Cat Sandison sells Francesca’s emotional turmoil through sheer force of will – and soaring vocals.”
Lost in Theatreland: **** “This show is exactly what the West End needs right now, after the past few years everyone could use a light-hearted, heart-warmingly fun show such as this one. A show where you can sit back and be entertained, without having to concentrate intensely. The Great British Bake Off Musical sprinkles a little joy in the West End – and has the perfect recipe for an uplifting, hilarious, and touching show, creating an absolute showstopper. It’s bound to be everyone’s new guilty pleasure!”
The Great British Bake Off Musical continues to play at the Noel Coward Theatre. To book tickets click here.