Great British Bake Off – The Musical reviews ★★★

"Sweet treat with a soggy bottom"

"The TV show invites a large helping of satire but Jake Brunger and Pippa Cleary serve up a sugary plot with over-egged characters"

"Perhaps worried about prioritising style over substance (the ultimate Bake Off sin), Jake Brunger (book and lyrics) and Pippa Cleary (music and lyrics) – who recently worked together on a musical adaptation of Adrian Mole – have over-egged their plot and tied the show together with a sickly sweet love story."

"The best moments come from the woefully underused John Owen-Jones and Rosemary Ashe in the spoof roles of judges Phil and Pam. In Slap It Like That, Owen-Jones chucks about a piece of strudel like his life depends on it and handles Cleary’s music with such respect and skill that it suddenly sounds 10 times richer under his control. I’d Never Be Me Without You is a brilliant oddball duet and suggests how fun this musical might have been with less sugar and a larger serving of satire."

"The Musical review — a sugar-and-spice recipe with no soggy bottoms"

"This celebration of a TV institution may be no classic, but in its cheerfully unassuming way Jake Brunger and Pippa Cleary’s show serves up a hearty, sugar-and-spice recipe."

"The jaunty songs toss in plenty of in-jokes, and it helps that they’re delivered by a cast including such experienced hands as Rosemary Ashe, John Owen-Jones and Sondheim specialist Damian Humbley. The actors inject so much joie de vivre into Rachel Kavanaugh’s production that you’re ready to overlook its throwaway structure. The result is a more decorous, home counties version of a hen party night out."

"Eminently digestible, but where’s the flour power?"

"This tongue-in-cheek homage at the Cheltenham Everyman has a few terrific showstoppers yet lacks the tears and tension of the baking itself"

"I’m not an avid viewer – a dipper-inner, more like – so can’t speak for BakeOffistas, but judging by the warm reaction to the try-out in Cheltenham, it’s clear devotees won’t be recoiling in disgust. Whether the tongue-in-cheek homage is cooked to perfection is another matter."

"The crucial missing ingredients, though, are the sweat, tears and angsty tension of the baking itself. You want less patter, more butter. The show lacks flour power: no one gets their hands dirty (there’s much cursory denoting of culinary activity), or fully imparts the all-or-nothing nature of the baking beast. A bit more time in the development oven required, I’d say."

"A sweet treat"

"Great British Bake Off: The Musical is exactly what it says on the packet — a tried-and-tested recipe (would it be unkind to call it a formula?) with the theme music, the bunting-bedecked tent and the sweetie-coloured Kitchen Aids all in place. Fold in gooey songs and a gluey love story and you've got the icing on the cake."

"Rachel Kavanaugh's well-presented production slips down a treat, but what's missing is any depth of flavour, that dash of balsamic that makes a competent cook into a star baker."

"An audience of spellbound children appeared to recognise themselves."