www.broadwayworld.com: After the first preview of Paddington the Musical at the Savoy Theatre, the show's star was interviewed by a BBC journalist. The new video shows a first look at the Paddington puppet walking around the set, also debuting his speaking voice that was not previously released in promotional materials.
8 comments:
I think that the iconic Patrington bear is such a cute and cool depiction of the famous marmalade-loving bear. When I first heard that Pattington was coming to the stage, I was worried about it at first. Creating live animals on stage is very difficult, let alone creating a talking animal that has very intentional movements and cues, and then also having the animal be the main event. So when the team started working on this show, I can only imagine how hard this task must have been. For me personally, I do not care for things that look like humans but are not really human, like lifelike dolls. I was worried about what the outcome was going to be for the design of the bear and if it was going to turn out more creepy than cute. I think that they really nailed the look and mannerisms of the movie version of the bear. In the puppet, it feels warm, cuddly, and endearing, much like the movie version we all know and love.
I had watched the video that this article mentions a few days ago, and I think that the way that the production created Paddington is very accurate to the movie. Also the fact that it is a combination of puppeteers that are creating his likeness is such a cool concept, and I cant even begin to image how much work and coordination this feat requires. I never read the original books, but I have seen the movie and I love it. I am not sure if I will have the chance to see this production live, but I am looking forward to seeing more of the production, and possibly even a recording at some point. Though as I look at the Paddington in the interview I cant help but wonder how hot it is in the costume, and how the two actors communicate to make Paddington's movements seem fluid. Especially in the case of an interview where every movement cant be rehearsed ahead of time due to not knowing how the interview will go. It makes me wonder if they rehearsed certain responses ahead of time, or if this whole interview really showed how in-sync the actors are, and how quickly they can act on the fly.
Ah yes, the beast from my nightmare getting interviewed, how nice. That demon can stay in England, please do not come to the US to haunt Broadway. While the costume/puppet/animatronic with human inside/whatever it is is impressive as hell, but simultaneously, creepy as hell. I think its going to be very interesting seeing how they maintain the actual puppet. It’s a challenge disney and universal constantly run into, and I am sure this bear (if you can even call the demon that) is no exemption to deteriorating from sweat and other bodily things. Stage lights are known to get hot, they are 1000W lights, and there are often more then one, so there is going to be a lot of sweat in that little furry demon costume. I imagine the wardrobe team will have a massive challenge ahead of them, and it will be interesting to see not only how they maintain that costume, but also how much it costs and if their bottom line gets hurt by it. While I imagine they worked it into the production weekly expenses, but will it be enough or will they need more moneys.
I have seen so much of this new production on social media and it is so cool and adorable. I wasn’t sure initially how they were going to pull off this performance but the Paddington costume plus the actors who play Paddington did a wonderful job. I really hated how initially the actors didn’t get their own bows at the end of the show, especially the actress in the suit only getting a bow IN the suit. From what I’ve seen on tiktok and instagram this performance seems well done and very detailed and I hope to be able to see more of it online or even see it myself at some point if the show travels. It is very impressive the way the two paddington actors work together to bring this character to life, especially because two actors working as one has to be so difficult to perfect.
This puppet is so unbeliveably adorable oh my god. I saw clips of him on tiktok, but I did have a sneaking suspicion it was AI. I'm so happy to see he's real. Paddington bear exists with this charm that can't really be described unless you reas the books or watched the films (the original, not the sequels). And this puppet captures that charm. His construction makes him feel small, almost helpless in a sense. But also filled with wonder, just as the books had made him out to be. I love seeing people online freak out about him too, because it gives the normal person an idea of how far we''ve come in the theater world. The idea that two people are puppeteering it is cool, too. Reminds me a lot of the head from the godzilla musical, where one person was inside of it and one person controlled remotely from off stage. I can't wait to see how this works in terms of the show's long-term run!
Paddington absolutely blows me away every time I see video clips or photos of this Broadway production. I think even beyond the puppetry, just the design of the costume itself paired with the lighting and set have made for beautiful images and scenes that must be incredible to see in person. They took an ambitious goal that must’ve raised eyebrows at every step of the way and totally delivered. When I see images from the musical, I’m almost convinced that it’s some sort of static miniature or art installation. When I was told it was a person in a costume with a puppeted mouth, I was so shocked and needed video evidence. I’m really impressed that they use a voice actor and remote puppeteer. I also appreciate that they have a casting director for the bear himself, and am curious how that process goes. Overall, I’m very impressed by what they’ve created. Theatre seldom leaves me satisfied that I’ve missed certain productions, and “Paddington” is not something I’m glad I’ll miss.
I forget about my love for puppets until I see things like this come to life. Not only is Paddington the cutest thing ever, but so much time and care has gone into skillfully creating this puppet, gathering the proper team to operate it, and so much more- is incredible. Take the intense collaborative skills it takes to do theater and get them even more concentrated and that’s what this project sounds like. I can’t even imagine the amount of training and rehearsals this took, not to mention the work put in by the design team and the upkeep of a little furry guy like this over the course of the production process. Everything I've seen about this bear displays the careful thought that’s gone into his every movement, even each blink seems to be specifically timed and perfected. This is a production I would love to see live for the sake of such an incredible incorporation of puppetry, as well as such a wholesome story. Typically I’m salty towards productions that are just recreations of other things, but taking the unreal aspects of film and book and creating them in a way that is real onstage is a special kind of magic.
I watched pieces of this interview on instagram and a ton of other videos about the Paddinton bear and I think it is really interesting. Before the videos were released I really thought it was going to be more of a robot or a puppet where you can see the person. When I did see it my first thought was oh my god is there a child in there and my second thought was it is literally the no hands challenge. I understand in the show the person inside and the voice/face have a very specific track but I think about things like this and/or if they ever needed to improve how the two of them would get in sync. I wonder if they can communicate with each other in any way. The blinking of the bear does freak me out and distract me a little bit but I do think overall it is really well done.
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