Curtain up on West End Bake Off with star ingredients
(Picture: Borkowski)The team behind the Great British Bake Off Musical have revealed their recipe for success as they announced it is coming to the West End.
The musical, inspired by the much-loved baking show, features eight contestants, two judges with more than a passing resemblance to Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood, and more than 100 prop cakes.
Jake Brunger, who wrote the show with Pippa Cleary, said they watched every episode for research and spoke to former contestants including Tamal Ray who was runner-up in 2015 when Nadiya Hussain won.
He said their aim was to make “an affectionate homage to the show” with references to some classic moments including in 2014 when one frustrated amateur baker threw his melted baked Alaska in the bin.
Brunger said: “If you are a Bake Off aficionado you will recognise the infamous ‘bingate’ and those kind of things but we didn’t want to alienate anyone who hadn’t seen the show.
“If you take the TV show away from it then it is just about a group of people coming together and baking. This is a show about friendship and how coming together can really make something.”
He said the musical comedy includes some fictional bakers inspired by real-life contestants including “a granny type” and a “pretentious hipster” who lives on a canal boat.
Bake Off launched in 2010 and has become a global sensation, making stars of judges and contestants alike.
Co-writer Cleary said they briefly considered having real cakes being baked on stage before deciding it was not practical.
The show, which will open at the Noel Coward Theatre on February 25 and run until May 13, was created in association with Love Productions which made the original programme and has the seal of approval from Leith herself who said: “I am thrilled to bits that The Great British Bake Off musical is going to the West End.”
