"The Great British Bake Off Musical" 

Gatepost Theatre Company.

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

I will admit that, before Gatepost proclaimed that they were doing this musical, I had never watched an episode of the TV show; after all, who wants to watch people baking on TV? It'll just make me feel hungry! I now get the fascination and since that day, I've been watching "Bake Off" on a regular basis, so thank you Gatepost.

"The Great British Bake Off Musical" is a celebration of baking, self-discovery, and the joy of community, served with a generous helping of British charm and comedic flair. The show brings the beloved baking competition to life, blending the charm, humour, and heart-warming moments of the TV show with catchy tunes and recognisable characters. Whether you're a fan of the TV show or just love a good musical, this is a theatrical treat that promises to rise to the occasion with a guarantee that you won't end up with a soggy bottom with this showstopper of a musical.

The competitive bakers are.....

Gemma is played by Claire Webb. Gemma is a 35-year-old carer from Blackpool, England. Until recently, she has taken care of her late mother and has now been called onto the show as the backup contestant on "The Great British Bake Off". The girl next door, Gemma lacks confidence in her abilities as a baker but as she moves through the stages, discovers that her skills, and not just in the baking department, are rather tasty. The more confident Gemma gets, the fancier her clothes.

Ben is played by Ewan Waddell. A police officer from Bristol, Ben is a kind and caring dad who loves his daughter very much. Having lost his wife to illness not long ago, he is now trying to navigate what being a single dad is with his fourteen year-old daughter Lily. Knowing her dad needs cheering up, Lily fills out the application form without his knowledge. The duet with Ewan and Ben's daughter Lily, "My Dad"will bring a tear to your eye. Ewan and Claire also have a marvellous duet called "The Perfect Petit Fours" in the second act, where you get to experience some lovely choreography, as well as vocals.

Izzy is played by Isobelle Walker. Izzy is a 21-year old Cambridge student from the home counties in England. An incredibly ambitious girl, she spends most of the competition assuming she will take home the crown, but confidence can hide a few naughtier traits. the song "Obviously" tells you all you need to know about the character, right from the start.

Francesca is played by Laura Stone. Francesca is a fashionable Italian art teacher in her 30s who now lives in Bangor, North Wales. A very welcoming and kind soul, she describes her students as her “children” and is the kind to believe in everyone. There's an absolutely gorgeous track called "Grow" which reveals quite a sad secret of Francesca's, accompanied by a lovely animated video piece. I loved the conversation segment in the second act that Francesca has with Hussan as well.

Hassan is a 17-year-old student living in Wembley, and is played by Shantanu Bhumbra. With a very positive and optimistic personality, Hassan brings his lucky red T Shirt to the competition, confident it will help him succeed. When it goes missing later on, he continues to persevere and discovers that he can succeed without the T Shirt. This is such a lovely upbeat character, portrayed brilliantly by Shan, that you really hope that he wins the show. Hassan also gives Shan a chance to show off his rap skills.

Dezza is played by Jude Cliffman. Dezza is a hipster activist who lives on a canal boat in London. She is very passionate about causes like the environment and animal rights and arrives at the competition with a forward-thinking vegan take on baking. 

Russell is played by Josh Birchall, a nautical engineer who lives with his husband Mario in Macclesfield. Russell not Josh, that is. A man of precision, he has entered the competition hoping to use his tools, grafts and charts to stay on top in the tent. Josh brings some lovely campness to the story but is never over the top, just enough to extract a giggle or two.

Babs is played by Carrie-Anne Corner. Babs is a retired grandmother of 17 grandchildren and hails from London’s East End. With three ex-husbands under her belt, she learned to bake years ago and loves to add extra liqueur in everything for “flavour”, something that Pam is in favour of! The connection with Phil is really nice; it's a love/hate vibe, but those real feelings for Mr Hollingworth rise to the top in a big musical number called "Bab's Lament", and I loved what Babs had on under her coat flaps! And that's not a euphemism!

Sandy Lane is Pam Lee, one half of the famous "Great British Bake Off" judging team. Pam has tremendous life experience as a baker and shares her knowledge with the contestants throughout the show. Based on the real life Prue Leith, Pam is slightly over the top and provides many of the saucy double entendres. Sandy is perfect for this role as she has a naughty glint in her eye whenever I see her away from the stage, and that is perfect for Pam Lee. Act two opens with a big glitzy number called "Keep On Keeping On" which would not have looked out of place in an old Hollywood blockbuster. Sandy also gets a fun duet with Ian in "I'd Never Be Me Without You", which has a feel of "Timeless To Me" from "Hairspray"

Ian Taylor is the second judge, Phil Hollingworth, based on real-life celebrity baker Paul Hollywood. A very confident man, he is often known as the harsher of the two judges, but offers a coveted handshake to the bakers who have impressed him. A handsome silver fox who strikes up a lovely comedy pairing with Babs, with a series of "knock knock" jokes which runs throughout the musical. One of the catchiest songs in the musical is one called "Slap It Like That", sung by Phil and The Bakers, and there's some fun choreography in this section as well.

Luke Grainger is Jim, one half of the popular presenting duo of "The Great British Bake Off". A big personality, he bounces off his presenting partner Kim in an over the top hosting fashion throughout the entire show. Luke doesn't have to do a lot to make people smile because he has one of those faces that can extract laughter from an audience, and I mean that in the nicest of ways. I've seen Luke play comedy roles as well as serious roles and he excels in both genres. One of my favourite duets he gets to sing is called "Bring On The Scone" with Kim and the Ensemble. 

Lottie Lodge is Kim, the other half of the hosting. A big personality, she is loved on set and always happy to joke around with her other hosting half, Jim. Throughout the show, Kim lends a sympathetic ear to contestants when needed. 

The role of Lily, daughter of Ben is shared by Esmie Cockayne-Smith, Bella Nicholson and Isla Farrell. Wednesday night was Esmie's night on. Lily is fourteen years old and comes to set every week with Ben. Her mother, Ben's wife, passed away from not so long ago and together, they are learning what it is like to be a family of two. Very loving in nature, Lily only wants the best for her dad and is very protective of him.

Tilly Bedford, Arfaa Butt, Sarah Butler, Emily Corner, Daisy Donoghue, Ben Gray, Alana Grummitt, Ellie Heap, Amy Hunter-Parker, Jordan Neary, Gabi Owens, Alison Russell and Dean Porter make up the Ensemble, who also just happen to be the TV Crew Members as well.

I don't have to tell you what brilliant singers this cast are, all you have to do is listen to these gorgeous harmonies, quite choral in fact. All the main characters get to shine individually with their back stories and their vocals, which is why I've not said just how good they are separately with each character. It goes without saying when you look at just how strong the cast is.

Directed by Chris Collington, who is so good at bringing the comedy side of shows out even more. Anyone who has seen any other Gatepost show directed by this man will know just how good shows like this can be when you have a Director of Chris' quality on board. 

Musical Director is Martin Lewis, again another indication as to how good this show is musically. the Bake Off Band consist of Martin and Gabryl Oleshko (Keyboards), Dawn Bratby (Reeds), Austin Owen (Guitar), Jonathan Jarvis (Bass) and Harry Lane (Drums). A band that certainly rose to the occasion.

Choreography is by Lottie Lodge, and there's so much to love about the chorographical side of this musical, as I've already touched on earlier in the review. It has (Paul) Hollywood style running all the way through.

Set Design is by Mark, Will and Alison Russell. Loved it, and not a piece of canvas in sight.

The props for this show are brilliant with all of the cakes and baking items delivered to the stage, along with cooking utensils etc. So many and all sourced by Tilly Bedford, Chloe Porter and Jude Cliffman. 

Costume Supervisors are Tessa Raum and Gabi Owens. There are quite a few costume changes in this show, especially for the judges and presenters, plus the style upgrades for Gemma.

Stage managed by Mark Green with a Stage Crew consisting of Sam Bunting and Mark Russell.

Lighting Designer is Steven Greatorex and Sound Designer is Dave Dallard and Granite AV. I quite often have a knock at the sound quality, and occasionally the lighting, but tonight both fields were, yet again, absolutely spot on with the sound being crystal clear and the vocals well mixed with the live band. they all made these areas feel as easy as a piece of cake to be this good.

I mentioned the animated projection earlier and this was an area which really added another layer of style. From the very start of the show we were treated to really lovely projections onto cooking aprons and onto the fronts of the baking stands. This area of excellence was created by Chris Collington.

It's a fairly new musical, and sometimes theatre goers avoid shows that they don't know, especially musicals, but this is a fantastic musical which retains all the fun from the TV show and has a cast who are specialists in the field of entertainment. Only one downside and that is watching all that onstage baking, I found myself getting really hungry. Ah! but Gatepost have thought of that and there are cakes available to buy in the interval and they are delicious, so if your tummy rumbles throughout Act One, head for the foyer and quell that hunger.

Oh, I didn't say who was the final winner did I? Well, I advise to get a ticket to see the answer to that one.

"The Great British Bake Off Musical" is at the Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton until Saturday 19 September, so on your marks, Ready, Set, Get your tickets!!