Clap for him!
Photo: WhatsOnStage/Instagram
Not since the resurrection of Jesus Christ has there been a more compelling three-day narrative. Even though he alone took his first bow on the West End during a preview performance on Saturday, November 1, the lifelike titular bear from Paddington: The Musical already has thousands of worshipers around the world ready to die on his behalf (myself included). What’s not to love? The stage version of the beloved children’s character blinks eyes that are full of whimsy and optimism. He’s cute, he’s cuddly, and he’s got a British accent — of course the internet is obsessed. “I feel so maternal towards him. I know if he was trapped under a 3500lb car I could lift it,” one tweet declares, while another muses, “I’d get kicked out for running on stage to hold him.”
His social media rollout was perfectly timed to make him go viral. According to WhatsOnStageinstead of waiting for lower-quality pictures to leak, the musical shared official shots of Paddington on social media right after the first act on November 1. That meant that HQ shots of him looking sad and lonely while sitting in bed at the Savoy Theater arrived online at the same time as organic posts from audience members began stoking extreme jealousy in those of us who don’t live in London. The Guardian led a flood of coverage on November 1 about the performers who bring Paddington to life — Arti Shah gives the physical performance onstage in costume, while James Hameed offers the voice of the bear and remotely controls his facial expressions. Casting British South Asian talent only gave people Moree reasons to love Paddington, adding an emotional weight to the musical about a Peruvian bear looking for a home in London. At its heart, Paddington is an immigrant story. “Paddington means something different to everyone,” Hameed said The Guardian. “My father came over in the ’70s from Pakistan looking for a home. For my British mum, Paddington was manners, tea, and marmalade sandwiches. For my dad, he was a visualization of his own story.”
On November 3, Paddington’s press tour brought him to the BBC, where journalist David Sillito was stunned into silence after seeing the bear in the FLASH fur. “I don’t really know what to say. I’m having a little moment here,” Sillito said in a TikTok that has more than 4 million views to date. (The ever-polite Paddington replied, “Take your time.”) Paddington blinks and nods as Shah lifts the bear’s paws and Hameed speaks. Some details of how this all happens have still been kept under wraps, and it seems unlikely that a hard look will give us all the answers about the technology at work. Paddington designer Tahra Zafar, whose credits include Star Wars and the Jim Henson Creature Shop, told the BBC that she doesn’t want to give everything away. “I don’t want people to think about how we’ve done it,” she said. “I just want people to love him.” Judging by the reaction online and in the audiencethere’s no need to worry about that.
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