This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:01] Jeff Malone: Welcome to Half Hour with Jeff & Richie, the podcast where we explore the latest shows we see, sharing our insights and opinions on the performances, storylines, and everything in between.

[0:09] Richie Grasso: In today's episode, we're discussing the new West End musical, Paddington the Musical.

[0:14] Jeff Malone: Whether you cannot catch the show in person or you want to expand your thoughts after seeing it, this episode is for you.

[0:20] Richie Grasso: And as always, we want to inform you that this episode will contain spoilers, so if you're ready to dive into this production, stick around with us. I'm Jeff.

[0:27] Richie Grasso: And I'm Richie, and we're thrilled to be your hosts for this episode. But before we start the conversation about Paddington the Musical, here are a few words from our advertisers.

[0:36] Jeff Malone: Welcome, everyone, to a new episode of Half Hour with Jeff & Richie. Today, we're discussing the West End production of Paddington the Musical.

[0:44] Richie Grasso: Paddington the Musical brings everyone's favorite marmalade-loving bear to the stage in a brand-new musical inspired by Michael Bond's beloved 1958 book, A Bear Called Paddington, and the hit 2014 film.

[0:56] Jeff Malone: With music and lyrics by Tom Fletcher and a book by Jessica Swall, the show follows Paddington's heartwarming adventures with all the charm, humor, and magic that audiences have come to love.

[1:05] Richie Grasso: After premiering in London's West End, Paddington the Musical is set to make its Broadway debut in 2027 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre.

[1:12] Jeff Malone: All right, so let's get into our bold statements for Paddington the Musical.

[1:16] Richie Grasso: So I'll go first here. I think that if everyone saw Paddington the Musical, that it might just save humanity, because if we can't be a little bit kinder to each other after seeing it, then I really don't think that there's any hope for this world.

[1:29] Jeff Malone: Wow, wow. My bold statement is Lion King, Hamilton, Paddington. It joins the ranks of the epics of highly successful storytelling on the stage. One of the best things I have seen in years. Brought me to tears. Brilliant. Basically no notes.

[1:51] Richie Grasso: No notes.

[1:52] Jeff Malone: You must see it in London. You must see it on Broadway. I'll tell you why in the next 20-something minutes.

[1:57] Richie Grasso: Let's dive in.

[1:58] Jeff Malone: Where do we begin with this?

[1:59] Richie Grasso: We start with this, what I just kind of said. We have a 1958 book, a very famous character that seems to be a little bit more famous in the UK than the USA. But in general, when I say Paddington, I think a lot of people think of the bear before the train station when you think of US audiences.

[2:16] Jeff Malone: Then we have this big 2014 film, which puts a plot to Paddington's journey to London. We had some famous – Nicole Kidman's in the movie, some famous people. There's a journey. It feels Disney, but it's not. It's an epic film.

[2:30] Richie Grasso: Then this musical comes. I've heard everyone – we went to London this summer. This was on our list, of course. Everybody said, you've got to see Paddington. Oh, my God, he wins all these awards. I said, okay, okay. When everyone hypes it up, I say, okay, okay, okay. I went in, not with a low bar at all. I actually thought my bar was set pretty high going into this.

[2:48] Jeff Malone: But I still didn't – with that feel, when the bar is set high, I feel like, okay, I'm ready. Give me good theatre. I'm like, wait, how is this even surpassing the high bar that I had set for it? I don't know what this creative team went through to put this on the stage like this, but I have just never seen something that is so joyous, straight through, that gives you that gut feeling.

[3:16] Richie Grasso: I could literally cry right now thinking about it, because I'm talking about it. I've been crying listening to this, because I don't know what it is about this story that is just pushing me to tears. But the end of Act 1, I was tearing up. The end of Act 2, I'm bawling. Our friends that I'm with are like, are you okay? I'm like, I think, but this is really moving me.

[3:33] Jeff Malone: And it is joy. It is rooted in really serious issues, but also love and family and connection and desire and finding a home. And I just don't – I'm literally left speechless because of how brilliant this is.

[3:49] Richie Grasso: Yeah. And to say, like, why we think that this is so brilliant is because strictly, right away, when you go to the book of this musical, I think it is probably one of the strongest books I maybe have ever seen in a musical before. And I think that's very bold to say.

[4:09] Jeff Malone: And I think that the music and lyrics are also a really strong point in this musical. It is fully checking the box. I try to find the filler that's in this musical, and I really can't find it. I think that it really, really stands tall and meets the expectations that I think most people will have.

[4:31] Richie Grasso: But if there was one element that fell to the wayside, it wouldn't have worked as well. And yet every department has rowed its boat to success. You have a strong book. You have an incredibly strong score with an incredibly strong orchestration. You have perfect casting, a wonderful mix of characters. You have scenic design galore. You have beautiful lighting and projections, sound design, costume design that is beautiful. And then you have this bear.

[4:58] Jeff Malone: And I think that when we talk concepts, when you think of animals on stage, and you think of Lion King first, you think the final product of that was this African art form of storytelling where you see human face and puppetry. And it just hybrid worked so well.

[5:16] Richie Grasso: And I thought, well, they could do Paddington anyway. They could do Paddington a million different ways. They are using, and this is the spoiler alert, they're using an actor as the bear, and they're using a separate actor doing the mouth and the voice and the vocal singing of the bear. And the bear is, and the bow at the end, you're seeing two actors bowing for one character.

[5:37] Jeff Malone: When I explain that to people, they get it. But I think you don't get it until you see it.

[5:42] Richie Grasso: You have to see it.

[5:43] Jeff Malone: Major spoiler alert here. I keep saying that because I know some people really, really want to be going in. But another major spoiler alert is the vocal actor in a costume being seen throughout this piece with the bear.

[5:58] Richie Grasso: And again, it may not make sense unless you see it, because I'm like, wait, what do you mean the vocal actors on stage? But that means something too in the concept of this. And when we go to that concept, what does it mean?

[6:10] Jeff Malone: There is this whole message about refugee in this musical and where you are going to seek refuge. I think that there's like, and they do it so well, like bringing this actor on the stage before the bear even appears and how he has this whole curiosity of, is he Paddington?

[6:32] Richie Grasso: Is Paddington representative of this act, this other character?

[6:36] Jeff Malone: Right.

[6:37] Richie Grasso: The bear is...

[6:38] Jeff Malone: Is the story being told by the shop owner, like what he's listening to? Does he feel like he is Paddington? I think there's so many things that it represents, but it is really this story of going to a place that is unfamiliar to you and you needing to find your place there. But do people welcome you there?

[7:00] Richie Grasso: And that's the concept of this. And that's why the director and creative team leave you as an audience asking these questions. You should leave a theater wondering, well, what if it's about this? And what if it's about that? Not confusion, but quite the opposite, making your own narrative with it. This is a story of an immigrant coming to a country and finding their home, whether it's a bear or a human, and it's both.

[7:23] Jeff Malone: And there's also this feeling throughout the whole piece that the bear is not a bear because they're like, oh, this bear. If anybody saw a bear in the city, you'd be like, what? And some people are like, what is this bear? And then some people are like, hello, bear. And the bear's talking and acting. So obviously that's the fantasy of it and the childhood feel of it.

[7:43] Richie Grasso: But there's this brilliant sense of journey, finding home, and what Paddington is teaching. I kind of call it the Mary Poppins effect only because there was problems in the family with Mary Poppins and her job was to come take care of the children. And what did she do? She fixed many other things in that family's life instead. And I think while it's similar to Paddington, I think the similarity is Paddington fixed people, fixed relationships, and made this family and the others in the town better.

[8:13] Jeff Malone: By just being himself. Mary Poppins is a little bit of a mission. She's there to watch the kids. I think the journey of Paddington going and saying, I need to find this explorer because this is a human that I trust because my aunt trusted, also led him to believe I can trust other people too.

[8:30] Richie Grasso: Ironically, the human that shouldn't be trusted is the explorer's daughter, who's the villain. Spoiler alert again. But I think that there's such message here about finding hope and the people that immediately don't want to give him the time of day and the people like the mom who want to take him in and say, let's help him. And he teaches everybody so much about life and family and love.

[8:54] Jeff Malone: And then when you move into the music and lyrics and the orchestrations that are happening in this piece, there's so much being said. I think like the first time you see this musical, you're going to miss so much of it, actually, unfortunately, because I think it's so strong. But again, it's going to be sensory overload in like you're seeing this amazing production and it also sounds great, but like you have to really hone in on the lyrics that are being said.

[9:19] Richie Grasso: So as you continue to listen to the cast recording after, you'll start being like, that makes sense now why that song happened. That also makes sense why that song happened. And one of the biggest things like that I do want to talk about in here is like finding your missing beat.

[9:36] Jeff Malone: Which is the last song, which is like such a theme, but you're also like they bring this whole rhythm of London, all of the different people that come together that make up London.

[9:48] Richie Grasso: But all the different musical sounds of the world. It wasn't just, you know, musical theaters. It was the Calypso Caribbean style sounds and music that's playing in that song. And then even musically, and we found our missing rest beat and they didn't put beat on the beat. It's off the, like there's all this smart writing.

[10:07] Jeff Malone: But relating that to people and the rhythm of London being different people and making it up, but the whole world, you know, take London out of it and you're really looking at the whole world. We're all a different people, but we're all one and we should be coming together.

[10:22] Richie Grasso: And, you know, and learn from each other. You know, they talk about this, like Paddington taught me this and Paddington taught me that and Paddington taught me this. But in the beginning, it was like, get away, go back home. The same way that people talk to people today.

[10:41] Jeff Malone: And the family and the different dynamics, we can learn so much. And we learn so much from Paddington. Meanwhile, Paddington's not there to fix people's problems. Paddington's there to find his own home. And there's this love, you know, throughout the whole piece, he's calling for Aunt Lucy. He's, where are I? Well, at the end, Dear Aunt Lucy, I have found my family. Dear, my Aunt Lucy. And then the Explorer and the Bear, which is an epic, beautiful ballad, all these things. And then that's why at the very end, another spoiler alert, you would think, okay, what's going to happen? He finds his family and then, oh, he's going to get a letter from the aunt. And he's going to say, I'm glad you found your family.

That's what you think, right? But the letter is not for him. It's for the new mom. And that's why I was like, nope, I'm now crying. Like, I am crying through this because it was a mother figure to a mother figure saying thank you for taking him. And that is beauty in life, in human and bear, I guess, form. But this is a story that needs to be told to children and to families. Like, I've never seen a show that I'm leaving and I'm like, oh, this feels like a kid's show or it feels too mature for kids. No, it's like literally for everyone. And everybody seeing this show can pull different things from it. It's brilliant. The whole thing is so, so brilliant. Yes. All right. Well, let's take a quick break.

And when we get back, we'll get into the direction, actor performances and design, even though we've could have talked about this show probably for the whole half hour just on the plot. We'll be right back.

[12:06] Richie Grasso: Okay. And we're back. So let's kick things off with the creative team and start with direction. We have direction by Luke Shepard. Movement all across the stage in beautiful direction. Clear vision with the designers, too, to tell the story of this bear, to bring the vocal actor on and off in moments that reminds us about the humanity of the bear and that there is someone else voicing this bear and the bear may just be a symbol of something. But then the bear also has this major presence, too, of being a bear and cleaning the ear of the toothbrush. Right. And the marmalade, like the beautiful, silly, cute things that we love about the bear state as well. But the curiosities of the bear, you know, is such an important part here that we're seeing as a major point in this and very similar to when you travel or someone moves to an unfamiliar place that they don't know you.

What do you do? You have this curiosity of like, oh, why do you say something like that? Or why do you use that? It's very different. And that's what we're seeing with this bear. Totally. And not to mention, you know, if I if I was directing this movie, one thing I would change is maybe I would have brought the voice actor in maybe one or two more times, because I feel like it was only a couple times. And maybe we could have seen that a little more, although someone could totally disagree with me and say, no, no, no, it's just enough. I would have liked to maybe seen that actor like one more time, maybe, maybe. But I think it would have also beaten it over the head with like, you know, the message of it.

I was fine with it. Yeah. But I think the choreography was really strong with this. All the design, every single design is nearly perfect. And I will also say this from when you look at the composers who wrote this, I said earlier here, we have music and lyrics by Tom Fletcher, a book by Jessica Swall. You're using full orchestra, not a small combo band, not a folksy this or a jazzy that a full orchestra to tell this story, not to mention the music is telling the story and moving the story along. I had said the one thing I will say, and this is a minor thing, I think the Mamba's song that is so funny. I just think that comes so late in the show. And I like the song, but it kind of takes us out of the plot when we really maybe could be wrapping up.

The only note is that I just wish they moved that song earlier, keep the song, move it a little earlier. But I also think maybe we do need some comedic relief at the very end. I don't know. I'm a little torn on that placement of the song at the very end. A few people I've talked to have said the same thing only because we're so close to the end of the show. Now we're getting this like Mamba song, but still funny. And I think that whole Mamba thing is hilarious, but I've thought about it a lot.

[15:04] Jeff Malone: Okay. And I look at it and I say the placement of it makes sense. Okay. When you listen back to it, they're talking about how they're excited because they're kind of like maybe going to be able to start up their whole group again. And that's why it kind of makes sense. But like that character is like a comedic character the whole time. It wouldn't make sense for it to not be comedic in its way. And I also do think it lends itself to change the scenic design that's happening behind the stage. Maybe with the coming up stuff. Is it a slight filler? Sure. One could argue, but I do think it still makes sense in the show. And it also is buttoning up that character and the whole Mambas thing in general.

Which, and that's just the smallest minor thing because I've seen so many shows where there's a major book problems and placement of song problems. And this just like, that's just one minor thing. But truly it's tight. It's running. It's flowing. I, we have to talk about some of these actors because like, I just want to get right into this cast. Everyone. Brilliant. Everyone. Everyone. No, truly everyone. And what they're doing. Who is your, if you had to choose just a couple standouts, because I have a couple. Okay. Where do I begin? Oh, I'll start. Okay. Fine. Okay. We're going to start with another bold statement. Victoria Hamilton Barrett. Yes. Millicent Clyde. Yes. Please come on half hour podcast.

Please come to Broadway and do this role. I mean, yes. I don't even know where to start. I've seen so many villains on Broadway and I'm like, this could have been so campy, comedic, sticky, kind of la la la, which we've seen. And instead there was like, oh no, this is an evil person or a misunderstood and confused and hurt person. And you are singing, I'm looking at the camera. I'm saying this. You are singing. You look amazing. You are out there. You are acting. I'm sorry. Like, please don't like stop doing this role. Like I want, I was blown away by this performance blown away. It's such an interesting role because you're not supposed to be liked, but you kind of are because you do have the spiciness to you.

That really is like intriguing. But like, then there is this, when you relate it back to the plot, there's this whole like understanding almost of her on like why people act certain ways. You're like, oh, why does this person act this way towards another person? And from what they've either learned or what they were taught and can they grow from it? We don't really get a growth from her other than the fact that as a villain and spoiler alert, she doesn't die, but she does get crushed in a way that like, she can't do what she was in love. She doesn't know what family feels like. So at the end, they give her like community service and said like, go serve your community because you, you know, she was going to really hurt this bear and she's killed many animals.

How good it is for her to see all of the kindness and love that everyone else is spreading around this bear. And you know, you have that moment with her where she kind of, you see it slightly that she's like, hmm, maybe I won't kill this bear. And then she's like, no, you're done. And, and stand out. I mean, so many standout songs, but pretty little dead things is like, that is a villain song. And it was amazing. And when you, and you were talking about the music and lyrics before too, and going back on the creative team, the orchestrations and arrangements by Matt Brind are out of this world. Out of this world. Like I'm hearing electronic synths and guitars and stuff. And then I'm hearing gorgeous orchestral strings and like, I'm hearing it all. And I'm like, that take is massive.

[18:18] Richie Grasso: It takes you on a full journey. And I'm like, we've been missing so much of this, having different motifs throughout music and having this sound really hit you. And like this, you can listen to this cast recording and you can go through and you're like, oh, we're bringing that in here. And we're bringing that in here as well. And I also, you know, I applaud them in a way because I found many different influences in the score overall from different Broadway areas. And from different styles of music, like Rhythm of London and the drum beats. And there's so many different styles of song here too. Which I think is a smart thing to do because now you're giving people, you know, they do it in pop music all the time where they, they kind of recycle melodies and, and it kind of like hits you in a way like, oh, why do I like this song?

And then, you know, 10 minutes later you realize, because it sounds like so-and-so. It's like, I don't mind that some of this sounds very similar to music we've heard before. It sounds to me like homework was done and I appreciate that more. You know, we don't need to redefine the musical sound over and over again, but we do need to pay influence to what has come before, I think. And I think that's something that they did really well with this score. Totally. And then when you're hearing, talking about some more of the actors, I mean, Bonnie Langford, Mrs. Bird, UK West End royalty. You can tell when you're sitting in the audience that everyone knows her and loves her. And she has that big, you know, kick line number that she sings.

I love, love, love everything they do with that character. I love her whole arc and her journey and what she means to that family. Brilliant. I think Amy Ellen Richardson, who plays Mrs. Brown, is a huge standout here. She is this most lovable mother figure in a piece that, you know, is so welcoming to you and has her own journey that she is on as well. I also loved Brenda Edwards, Tanya, and the voice of Aunt Lucy. Beautiful singing, heartfelt, gorgeous. Tom Eden, who is Mr. Curry, that is a role. It is. And like, you need to come to Broadway with all of them. But Victoria, I just want to see them again. I mean, that marmalade song, let's talk about comedic relief at the top of that too, with a gorgeous, beautiful moment.

You just take a pause and remember this bear likes marmalade sandwiches and let's bring the oranges out and let's just do it. Like that's a showstopper. But also bringing you theater. So it didn't have to be so literal the whole time in this show as well. We were able to take ourselves out and have this moment of like, suspend your disbelief here and like really go in and say like, oh, we're in this imaginative world around marmalade because when they bite into the sandwich, this is what they're feeling. Yeah. Hello. And directed beautifully and, and, and choreography. Great in here where we have bouncing oranges all over the place. How fun. But then you have that character, Lady Sloane in Mrs. Achoo, Amy Booth Steele, who is just this role playing and I say that during the marmalade because she came in like five minutes later, like, wait, am I done with the marmalade bit? Like, and that's the funny moment. And she

[21:53] Richie Grasso: The musical that we saw, Ali Sarabani, on stage. That is hard! Do you understand? You're in a costume doing all that physical movement non-stop. This is an Olympic feat what these people are doing in this. I'm just blown away. Not to mention, I would like to shout out, Adrian Dereggorian was Mr. Brown, but that's not who we saw. We actually saw at our performance, Simon Shorten. Going on, the show started a few minutes late because they said it was a last-minute change, and I believe it was his first time, and that cast welcomed him at that curtain call. He did it, and it was amazing, and he was so great as Mr. Brown. I had to do a shout-out to him as well. Amazing. All right, well, it is time to take another quick break, and when we get back, we'll get into our own experiences at the show and what we can't wait to talk about when it comes to Broadway.

Okay, and we're back. So, Richie, I want to know, and I'm pretty sure all of our listeners would like to know as well, because you have not stopped listening to this Paddington cast recording, so I need to know, what are your top three musical numbers from Paddington?

[23:02] Jeff Malone: All right, I've kind of mentioned them all at some point here. Marmalade, for sure. Standout. Pretty Little Dead Things. Awesome. And probably Explorer and the Bear. I actually love the end of Act 1, Explorer and the Bear, when they're finding him and that, and he gets to Millicent's house and all that. But those would be my top three, for sure. What about you? What would you say your top three are?

[23:27] Richie Grasso: Pretty Little Dead Things definitely grew on me a lot after listening to the cast recording, because I think you actually pointed a lot out to me that there are so many moments happening in the orchestration of that song that are just out of this world. I would also put One of Us in as one of my favorites from this, and I think I got a lot sappier with the show overall by listening to it more, that most of that is what turned into my top songs, because I actually think the ending four songs, just straight through, are perfect, when you have Everything You Never Were, Worth the Work, Missing Beat, and then Dear Family, because it pulls all of those moments that we heard earlier on, and we get the reprises, and they just work and flow into each other as every single character is having their moment at this final moment with Paddington, that it all just works, and you're bawling your eyes out listening to it.

I would ask you to go and listen to those four songs and not have some sort of feeling from it, because there's so much that everyone learned from those songs that I just think it's a major standout for me.

[24:33] Jeff Malone: And speaking of Broadway, Jeff, I want to ask you, what do you think the success of Paddington will be on Broadway next year?

[24:40] Richie Grasso: I would truly be shocked if Paddington is not a huge success, and I think the work will need to be done, because I think bringing people into the Paddington world is going to be a lot harder than it was in the West End, but I think as more people start talking about this show over and over and over, and once people start seeing it in the Broadway space, I can't, and I will not understand if people do not fall in love with this musical. So I think it could have huge success.

[25:11] Jeff Malone: Oh, I will say here 10 months in advance that this is the best musical. I mean, there are so many other shows to see, and I think there's going to be, that's going to give it a run for its money, for sure, because there's some big new musicals coming. This could easily win Best Musical, and I think this is going to run for years. And I'm sorry, I'll say this, I love Disney with my whole heart, truly. I think they do some beautiful, beautiful stories, but this rivals Disney, and I want to say, like, Disney, you might want to step aside for a little bit, because we have another family-friendly musical coming in, and I keep saying, like, where are the Disney family? It doesn't only have to be Disney, but like, we used to have some family-friendly musicals, three or four or five at a time, and right now it's like Lion King, Aladdin, Lion King, Aladdin, which is great, but like, for years now, everyone's seen those, and it's like, I keep saying, bring that Oliver revival over, bring something family-friendly over, but this is the new family-friendly musical, and I'm telling everybody right now, I'm going to look in the camera again, get your tickets now, right now, for Paddington the Musical for Spring 2027 or beyond, because this is going to be a hard ticket to get, it's going to run a very long time, it is beautifully joyous for two and a half straight hours.

You have to get your tickets now. Christmas present, get it. Like, do what you have to do. I don't talk much about this, many shows like this, and I just think this is where people need to be putting their focus in, because this is the future of family-friendly storytelling, creative art form, by huge epic scale, and it's beautiful, and people need to put this on their map. They need to put it on their radar for next year.

[26:38] Richie Grasso: I think we're definitely going to start seeing a lot more people starting to talk about this, but, you know, when you relate it to something like the Hamilton Effect and how successful Hamilton was, and, like, where it was at Joe's Pub and then moved to the Richard Rogers Theatre, I think, like, there may have been a slight more buzz happening around it because it was off-Broadway first. So now, with Paddington coming, we have the West End Effect, and sometimes it doesn't always translate to Broadway, unfortunately. But when I look at something like this, it has everything lined up to be a major, huge success.

[27:12] Jeff Malone: When you look at Lion King and what that did for theatre, and you, we were kids when we saw that, but when you said, whoa, that, whoa, whoa, we've changed the way we tell a story, and then you, and there's other epics too, but I say the next one is Hamilton because I remember leaving that and seeing the original Broadway cast and saying, whoa, whoa, whoa, we've changed the way we tell this story. I truly leave Paddington and say, that is a way to tell a story. We've changed the art form again. And not drastically, but we've supported every department of telling a story. And every single person involved is doing something to tell this story in a way that is just going to make it wildly successful. And I have such, such hope for this beautiful story for the children of the world, for adults maybe who are struggling, or just need something to lift them, and to have hope for what is possible in this art form and in the world. It's brilliant.

[28:10] Richie Grasso: Yeah. I would say, if one thing that they wanted to learn though, from something like the model of the Lion King, they need to find the balance by not just making this a family musical, but also making this a Broadway musical that gets the Broadway fan base and everyone around it kind of behind it as well. It's not just a kid musical.

[28:32] Jeff Malone: Because it could fall in line with like, oh, that's just a kid show. They don't want that. And I don't think it is. I'm just saying it's good that it's kid-friendly and the kids will see this and you can bring your whole family to it. But it certainly has elements of epic new musical Broadway storytelling where everybody should be seeing this, truly. The hardest critics and reviewers, everyone needs to see this. I mean, everybody I know that's gone to the West End and seen this has said they've loved it. Everyone. I don't know one person that says they haven't, truly. And it met my expectation. So I can't speak just go. Someone told me recently, I just got my tickets for Paddington for April next year. Like, no, I know we don't always do that for shows. We wait, we wait, we wait. Just go buy the tickets for eight months from now because you won't regret it.

[29:21] Richie Grasso: You won't.

[29:22] Jeff Malone: You won't. It's brilliant.

[29:25] Richie Grasso: Oh my gosh. I could talk about this for another half hour, half hour, half hour. But this was the first round of Paddington. We'll get a second round. We're going to see it on Broadway and then we're going to do a whole other episode, of course. What are your final thoughts on West End's production of Paddington the Musical?

[29:41] Jeff Malone: We can't stop thinking about it and we can't stop listening to it. And I think that is what theater is supposed to do. So I really, really applaud this whole team and what they have created with this piece, because I think it's exactly what we were hungry for and smart. It's done really well. They took the moments of the book and they took some moments of the film and then they said, this is what we're going to do in the musical. And they were inspired by some parts and then they made things their own. And I think that is how you have to do theater, you know?

[30:17] Richie Grasso: You know, someone asked me, why are you crying at the end? And I think it's for me, it's because it's, I'm not sad. I'm just blown away by beautiful endings that are then told that way. I've seen a million shows that have happy endings. I could literally cry right now thinking about this. I'm holding back tears and I've never said that on a podcast before, but I'm, I've never seen the love and joy of a piece end like that in the most theatrical musical way, where it's a hybrid of great acting and great storytelling and great lyric and great music and great costume and great like, that fills my heart and makes me realize why I fell in love with this art form as a little child. And I, if I could go back and if this could be my first musical as a child, I only hope that this is many, many, many, many, many children's first musical experience because it'll make them fall in love with this art form forever.

And not to mention that cute little bear, which, so anyway, I could talk about this forever, but that's, I will leave everyone with that for now. We will be back with the Broadway episode in months from now, and we'll have more to say I'm sure then, but brilliant.

[31:20] Jeff Malone: So for sure, that does wrap up our discussion for this episode. We hope you enjoyed our deep dive into Paddington, the musical in the West End. And remember, we want to hear from you. Continue the conversation with us on Instagram and TikTok at Half Hour Podcast and drop us a comment on Spotify and let us know your thoughts on Paddington, the musical. Please also leave us a review. Your reviews mean so much to us. And remember to subscribe to our channel for all past and future episodes. Until next time, I'm Jeff.

[31:45] Richie Grasso: And I'm Richie saying, Marmalade, ta-ta for now. And one thing I will say, have you seen this bear? Because I got a little poster when Squirrel Alert, they flew down from the audience. And so I got one and I'm going to go eat a marmalade sandwich now. Okay. Okay. Bye. Ta-ta for now. Bye.