Great British Bake Off - Cheltenham Everyman / Noel Coward

Undemanding, perfectly enjoyable show. When it was announced I spoke to a friend at the Everyman and said "I assume it will be like A Chorus Line, each baker telling their story in a song". I thought it was a perfectly good show in Cheltenham with luxury casting of JOJ and Ashe who were both excellent. The show itself felt like a decent show for touring but not for troubling the West End and I'm surprised to see it there.

What's so special about the West End that some shows supposedly don't belong there ?  Surely there will always be a place for undemanding lighthearted entertaining musicals, just as for comedy plays like Noises Off and  The Play That Goes Wrong.

With Only Fools and Horses ending soon after a pretty successful run I can see Bake Off musical capturing some of its market. I saw that five times and have seen Bake Off three already. I'm into double figures seeing both Mamma Mia and Jersey Boys.  It is show business after all and to get the maximum number of people to spend their money to see a show there needs to be a wide range of choice.

The show had a make over for the West End, apparently the staging got bigger, some new set pieces, bigger lighting and new projections, a new song for Pam. It seems a great fit for the Noel Coward.

Thanks! Managed to snag a good seat in the dress circle for £35 instead of £60.

I was also at yesterday's matinee which I really enjoyed (as did everyone else, it seemed) and this despite never having seen the tv version. Although I checked for offers, I was hobbled by the usual restriction common to all websites of being unable to book a single ticket if that would leave another and in any case, booking directly with Delfont Mackintosh offered the best price and with no fees added. I still had to ring the Box Office for someone temporarily to take the "spare" seat off sale but then secured a dress circle ticket for £25 and as close to the aisle as possible. All the 3rd party booking sites would have charged more for the ticket itself (had I been able to book with any of them) and would have added a fee on top.

The show itself was exactly what I hoped for and as comments and reviews had suggested: an entertaining escape from real life with a great script and cast and an excellent ensemble production with a little of everything: humour, pathos, drama and the stock happy ending, even though the latter didn't tie up all the loose ends as neatly as normal. Ideal fare for a grey, wet day whether you go alone or with family or friends and well worth seeing. Plus I found all the Noel Coward Theatre staff very helpful, pleasant and vigilant - though fortunately this wasn't the type of show or audience which needed any intervention during the performance.

It’s a witless mess of a show.

Lacklustre songs and groan worthy humour. The poor cast, trying their hardest to sell it.

Got an email several hours ago upgrading me from the balcony to the middle of the stalls. Never had that before! Upgraded at the theatre, certainly, but never in advance. Fine with me but potentially not great for anyone who may have booked a seat for a specific reason e.g. needing to be on an aisle. Obviously the show isn't selling out.

This show is not my cup of tea at all but I can see why people like it. It's largely inoffensive and hits on a lot of popular moments from the TV show. The child playing Lily absolutely knocked it out of the park.

I had two nightmare groups either side of me. One set of girls were fine until the interval when they obviously had more to drink and chatted tipsily through act two. The other side was a couple who could not keep their hands or their lips to themselves. Didn't even stop to applaud once! Just stay at home!

Look, it's never gonna reach the heights of success that Les Miserables or The Phantom of the Opera ever did but I think this will ride the wave and survive the negative criticism thrown at it.

I could see this transferring to the Haymarket or somewhere

[post potentially includes spoilers….]

I thought this could’ve been so much better than it was. The music was pretty ok - nothing to get too excited about, but on the right side of serviceable. The lyrics were very much as you would expect. As soon as Claire Moore opened, singing about her Great Aunt Edna’s suet, it was clear that the tone was exactly as anticipated - twee. With some predicable innuendos and jokes - soggy bottoms were of course painfully shoe-horned in. But ok, if that’s your thing.

The main problem was the book. Good grief, it was basic. I wasn’t expecting (nor did I want) Shakespeare, but some sort of level of thought would not have gone amiss. I can see why they wanted to base a musical on Bake Off - it’s a recognisable brand with an opportunity to weave characters into an overall narrative. Except they really struggled to make a coherent, engaging narrative. We found out various things about the contestants. One wanted a child. One is a Syrian refugee. One likes spreadsheets. But none of these things had any bearing on the central story. Facts were dropped in, and that was that. Sometimes a character’s back-story would impact the narrative - we find out the Izzy is overly competitive, and this leads her to try and boycott the competition. And there was the inevitable love story where two characters lives came together. But there was so much more opportunity to create a clever narrative out of the various characters which just didn’t happen. It just felt like it had been written as part of a GCSE drama project.

And as for the ending of the competition - what a damp squib to top it all off!

I saw the show last night, and I agree with you entirely. The cast are working their as**s off, but they haven't much to work with regards storyline. Some of the songs are quite catchy.
Highlight for me was the young lass who played Lily. So confident and such a good voice.