The Great British Bake Off Musical Is Heading To London's West End
Those who belong to both "The Great British Bake Off" fandom and the theater-going community are in luck! A stage musical adaptation of the popular baking reality show is set to arrive in London's West End soon, according to What's on Stage. It originally premiered this past August, and while the musical initially had the internet divided, the baking-filled stage production has some London thespians excited.
London-based actress Melanie La Barrie took to Twitter to share her thoughts on the arrival of "The Great British Bake Off Musical" in London. "This is what I'm talking about!" she wrote, calling the musical "a cracker!"
The TV show's judges are excited too. Prue Leith, who's been a bake-off judge since 2017, told What's On Stage that she's "thrilled to bits that The Great British Bake Off Musical is going to the West End. It is an uplifting, funny, heartfelt story, which will have you singing and dancing out of the theatre with a huge smile."
What you can expect to see in the West End
"The Great British Bake Off Musical" was written by Jake Brunger and Pippa Cleary, with Cleary taking charge of music composition, Brunger tackling the script, and both penning the lyrics, according to What's on Stage.
The show follows a fictionalized version of the events you'd expect on a typical series of "The Great British Bake Off," according to Playbill. Contestants will compete in a series of baking challenges, all trying to earn the title of star baker.
The preliminary cast portraying those contestants, the hosts, and the judges in the West End production was also announced today (via What's on Stage). Unfortunately, Paul Hollywood's name is not listed among the cast, so we won't be seeing him sing and dance any time soon. But his fictional counterpart, Phil Hollinghurst, will be played by West End legend John Owen-Jones who came to fame playing Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables" (per his website).
The production is slotted to run in the West End from February 25 to May 13, 2023 at the Noël Coward Theatre.