The Great British Bake Off Musical

The Great British Bake Musical is loosely based on the popular TV series ‘The Great British Bake Off’ where amateur contestants compete to be crowned the bake-off champion. They are judged on their ability to produce the best bakery goods, taking part in heats such as ‘signature dish,’ ‘the technical’ and the ‘showstopper challenge.’ This is the basically the plot of the musical, but here, the audience also have a ‘back-stage’ pass to the drama and chaos once the cameras stop rolling. 

The story is a mixture of behind the scenes and on-camera presentation of the filmed for television TV programme, complete with camera crew (Natalie Franklin), hair and make-up (Florence Butler) and a flustered stage/security manager (Tiffany Slater.) I liked the attention to detail of the make-up brushes worn around the make-up girl’s waist and some gaffer tape dangling from the stage manager’s waistband. 

Our celebrity presenter hosts are easily recognised as the original BBC presenters Mel and Sue.  Kim, played by Amy Coxhill and Lynne played by Jess Chambers. I liked the way their different personalities were highlighted with Kim wearing dresses and trousers suits in strong primary colours and Lynne’s quirky personality expressed with baggy quirky themed shirts and black leggings.  Both ladies captured the essence of the hosts especially the ‘act to the camera’ and the sorrowful faces when having to deliver the inevitable bad news to a contestant.

Cameras roll and the show starts with an intense drama about the origin of cake from prehistoric times, but this is quickly shown to be a ‘start of the show skit’ featuring our presenters dressed as cavemen. 

Then we meet the contestants.  Each one has a different stereotype personality which becomes apparent as, throughout the show, their back-ground history starts to be revealed. First up is the perfect princess, straight ‘A’ art student and control freak Izzy ( Emma Parker), Dezza, a vegan, a fiercely left wing environmentalist with a fondness for almond milk (Jaz Curzon), Russell with a penchant for pink calling himself ‘the queen of tarts’ (Reuben Apostol), buxom East End grandma Babs (Julie Foster), gentle widower and single dad, Ben (Tom Garnett), Italian born teacher Francesca with a sad secret (Fern van der Vliet), young Syrian from Wembley, Hannan (Dionne Roberts) who bakes by intuition, and finally, the ‘back-up baker’, nervous insecure Gemma (Becca White.)

Any avid fan of bake off would recognise the judges as they are thinly veiled pastiches (or should that be pasties?) of Paul Hollywood and national treasure, Prue Leith.  A tiny remote-controlled motorbike scoots across the set and the owner, carrying a motorcycle helmet swaggers in. This is Phil Hollinghurst (David Taylor) wearing casual jeans, hands thrust in his pockets, his blue eyes as vivid as his shirt. Accompanying him is Dame Pam Lee wearing a vivid riot of eye-bleeding primary-coloured clothes and dangly earrings.

Gemma is a sweet girl from Blackpool, wearing a baggy cardigan, pink crocs and glasses, who does not seem to understand how she has qualified to join the bake-off competition, as she tells the doting Kim that she is ‘doing it for her mum’ who has recently died.  More stories emerge.  Ben, from Bristol, lost his wife Julie three years ago, and he clutches her book of recipes with her name embellished in pink crystals on the front.  Dezza is scathing of the other contestants as they have obviously not read ‘all of Dame Pam’s 37 cookbooks.’ 

Costumes reflected the bake-off characters with the wacky presenters dressing in Austrian themed lederhosen for the ‘speciality bake’ and also as cheerleaders for the battle of the scones. The contestant’s outfits reflected their personalities, for example Babs, the granny cougar, wears animal prints, young Hannan, the first star baker, a lucky NASA T-shirt and long baggy shorts to highlight her age, sweet teacher Francesca wore vintage skirts and dresses and young Lily wore dungarees.

Each contestant had a showcase moment to give background to their character. Francesca sang a beautiful ballad about a bun in the oven, which was a poignant play on words regarding her own infertility. Russell led a boy band style homage fantasising about the longed for ‘handshake’ from Phil Hollinghurst accompanied by the cast using wooden utensils as microphones. David as Phil Holinghurst, had a euphemistic song about ‘slapping’ the dough and even Pam Lee had her moment strutting her stuff in her Day-Glo outfit accompanied by the chorus in pink glitter aprons to Keeping On, Keeping On about not giving up despite being retired. 

Ben and Gemma shared a sweet moment singing about the ‘Perfect Petit Fours’ which was one of the recipes that his wife had not created and showed their growing feelings for each other with sneaky glances and furtive smiles. 

True to form, the musical featured all the front of camera drama featured in the TV series. Russell cuts himself, Gemma’s ice cream goes AWOL, Hanan’s lucky NASA shirt goes mysteriously missing, and Gemma causes a fire with a malfunctioning blowtorch. Could there be a secret saboteur on board?

Obviously, this is a competition and, one by one, each contestant is eliminated with them reacting differently to the news. Dezza refuses to accept their elimination and in a funny running joke kept reappearing having to be escorted off set by security. Babs sang a sassy big brassy number Bab’s Lament about her unrequited love for a certain blue-eyed baker her own ‘naked chef’ which was a definite showstopper.

Amy Coxhill played Kim with a bright bubbly personality that matched well with the bantering style of co-presenter Lynne played by Jess Chambers. Both ladies, especially Amy, had an eye boggling selection of costumes changes.  I loved Amy’s sad and serious camera face and knowing looks with Jess and both women captured the dry wit of the real-life bake-off presenters. 

David Taylor and Jo Dewberry played the legendary judges who spawned a thousand catchphrases. David perfectly captured the gruff Northern accent of the twinkly eyed, silver fox judge, whose startling blue contacts matched his vivid blue shirt, name-dropping celebrities like pennies in a jar. Jo was wonderful as Dame Pam, with a curly grey wig and a range of vibrant outfits, she supped canned gin and delivered thinly veiled euphemisms with a wide-eyed innocence.  Her dance routine was another highlight showcasing Jo’s dance skills and comic timing. They also performed a witty show business routine in the style of You’re the Topscalled I’d Never Be Me Without You as they both affectionately teased each other with Phil gently mocking Pam’s dance moves. 

Jaz Curzon played Dezza well and, despite being eliminated early, still made their presence felt providing some of the humour. Fern van de Vliet was delightful as sweet Francesca and she sang her sweet solo with such passion we felt her pain and anguish, and she delivered it beautifully.  Emma Parker played the spiky control freak Izzy well, her inner thoughts betraying her true feelings for her fellow contestants and her ruthless need to win at any cost.  

Julie Foster was perfect as Babs, and she created a warm down-to-earth character with a pure heart. Dionne Roberts was convincing as Hanan despite playing a younger role and her song about being an immigrant inspired to bake by a teacher who believed in her was very well done. Reuben Apostol was the king of camp as drama queen Russell providing much of the humour.  Tom Garnett was excellent as the gentle widower Ben and his relationship with daughter Lily was poignant and sweet and his blossoming romance with Gemma was perfectly pitched as he even allowed her to change some of his wife’s recipes. 

Becca White, as the underconfident Gemma was sensational. I loved her character development as she grew in confidence as a baker and as a would be partner to Ben and future mum to Lily.  Her singing numbers perfectly showcased her strong ‘belt’ as she took us on her own emotional journey especially with her powerful song Rise full of baking puns, showing just how far she had come. 

Special mention to Holly-Rae Count who played Ben’s sassy daughter Lily on the Wednesday night. Holly-Rae showed a confident delivery well beyond her years and had a lovely, sweet relationship with her dad Ben who she was not unafraid of telling him off over his dreadful dad jokes. She read out her letter to the bake-off team that had secured his place on the show and didn’t mince her words highlighting his wearing the same checked shirt and crying in the shed. She sang the sweetest song My Dad asking them to please pick him for the competition. I loved her forthright attitude noticing that her dad hadn’t mentioned Gemma when talking about the other contestants, quickly working out that he was developing feelings for her. Ella Whittaker played Lily on alternate nights.

The set was draped with long lengths of white satin and bunting to represent the ‘bake-off tent’ which was traditionally a marquee set in a garden giving the illusion of a country fete.  On stage were the eight pastel coloured baking stations, one for each contestant, containing a selection of utensils and equipment, including pastel coloured bowls and food mixers.  These stations were wheeled on and off stage depending on the scene.  I was also pleased to see the cast using real ingredients such as flour and the finished products were cleverly sneaked into position for the judging. One of the highlights were the landmark themed concoctions such as Gemma’s Blackpool Tower and Izzy’s Eiffel Tower. 

Music was provided by a live band conducted by Musical Director, Pete Lack, and incorporated different themes ranging from Take That style ballads to big band numbers.  The harmonies were powerful and the voices blended well together. 

Director Matthew Roddis (who was also choreographer) took us on a musical journey where the competition on stage was eclipsed by the friendships and relationships forged by the contestants. I do think you had to be a fan of the show to be able to get the in-jokes, catchphrases and subtle innuendo of the bake-off experience, but it was a very enjoyable production. Well done to everyone involved on-stage and behind the scenes. 

Thank you to Fern, cast member and Chairperson, for the warm welcome and it was lovely to meet some of the cast after the show. 

 

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