𝗧𝗲𝗱𝗱𝘆 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗣𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗼𝘆

Jewish Telegraph, October 2025

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Paddington makes a mess. Picture: Mark Senior

Teddy Kempner has been in the acting business for almost five decades . . . and he has described the set for Paddington The Musical as the greatest he’s ever seen.
Nothing unusual about that as Teddy — who will play Mr Gruber when it opens at London’s The Savoy Theatre from November 3 — could be accused of playing the PR game.
But you can tell he believes what he says.
“You interview people and they all say, ‘My God, it’s good, it’s wonderful’,” he said. “And I could say it without any tiny crease of brow or the feeling of, you know, it’s all right.
“Even from the first day here at the rehearsal room, when they showed us the set for the first time, I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s extraordinary. It really is.
“And Tom Fletcher has written the most wonderful songs. Tom is extraordinarily gifted. It’s amazing. He’s written great tunes and witty words, which is unusual, and makes everybody very happy.”
Teddy, who is like a cross between Brian Blessed and Jason Mantzoukas, has been involved with Paddington for three years.
He explained: “I was asked to take part in one of the workshops. And ever since, I’ve done about four workshops of it as it progressed and grew.
“And, much to my astonishment, they even asked me to be in it. And it’s just . . . wonderful.”
“I do quite a few workshops. Most actors do. And you turn up and you’re just paid to be there and give it the best you can.
“And most of the time it doesn’t come to anything. So you don’t expect it. And sometimes you think, that’s wonderful and it never comes to anything. But this time I knew it was going to actually happen.
“Tom has presented people with one problem in that normally when you do a new musical, there will be songs where you think, we need to cut that for time.
“But Tom’s written so many excellent songs, cutting things has been really hard. I sympathise with those who are responsible for that because it’s not entirely straightforward.
“The script has developed colossally over the time from being what it’s about now. It’s really, really good.
“Jessica Swale has written the book, and she’s in with us every day. We’re still fiddling here and there where necessary. And it’s an exciting time.”
As one of the most loved characters in culture, anything involving Paddington Bear is guaranteed to be a hit.
“If you put the name Paddington outside the theatre, they’ll do fine anyway, of course they will. But fortunately, on top of that, it’s wonderful,” he said.
In the three Paddington films, Mr Gruber is played by Jim Broadbent, but Teddy, who was in a folk group at school, has not watched his performances.
“I’ve seen a picture of him sitting with a teacup. I’m not like that,” Teddy laughed. “So fortunately, I am uninfluenced and it’s very different.
“Because it’s a different writer, it’s a slightly different character.”
He also says the musical is aimed at all ages.
“I think that the older you are in some ways, the more you might enjoy it,” he said. “Children will love it, but it’ll have more to say to other people possibly.”
Paddington himself is being kept under wraps until closer to opening night, but Teddy has seen the creation.
“I have met the bear on many occasions,” he smiled. “And it is a very remarkable thing because the people involved have changed over the last three years. They get introduced to the bear because obviously we have to work with him and so forth. And every time, I am not kidding, people cry.
“It’s the most extraordinary thing. I think it’s because he is deep in most people’s childhood. When you’re playing the scene with Paddington, you’re talking to somebody. The fact that he’s a bear is sort of irrelevant in a way. And it’s a remarkable achievement.
“The producers came to see the second-half and they were crying again. Now, I don’t know whether it was with relief because they liked it or because it’s very strangely touching. It’s rather hard to explain, actually. It is weird. Children look sort of wide-eyed and the adults tend to cry. It’s bizarre.”
Teddy is contracted to Paddington for a year, but doesn’t it get boring doing the same thing every night?
“People do ask that. And to be honest, it’s not really like that,” he said. “You would be astonished at the difference between audiences from night to night. It depends partly on the day of the week.
“Friday nights are very interesting because people have said, ‘it’s Friday night, it’s the weekend, let’s go out’.
“But they tend to be quiet because what they haven’t allowed for is the fact they’re all a bit knackered from the week’s work. So there is an element of that.
“But seriously, the difference of audiences from night to night is remarkable and makes a difference to how you play it.
“I did a year in Cabaret and I loved every minute of it. Very nice people, working with lovely people helps. And it’s a very nice group of people here. So that’s not an issue. And also, what you’re doing is good and affects the audience in a way it’s supposed to. It’s not really a hardship.”
Cabaret provided one of the most shocking things in Teddy’s career when one of the actors takes off his coat and you see for the first time he’s wearing a swastika.
“You think, hang on a minute, I knew that was going to happen and yet it is deeply shocking. It’s very extraordinary,” he said.
“Mel Brooks’ musical The Producers is wonderful, but it’s also not so shocking because the Nazis are being mocked. It’s a question of tone, really.”
Teddy grew up in Mill Hill, London. He said his parents “used to do Friday nights until I was about eight or nine, and then they stopped.
“My cousins were fairly Orthodox. So for all the big religious occasions, we used to go over there and there would be prayers and terrific food.
“But generally, I was away at school and my family is not particularly religious. And so I feel culturally identifying with my group makes me feel comfortable and centred.
“From a religious point of view, I’m afraid I must be a bit of a disappointment to the world. I’m not a religious person.”
Teddy learned Hebrew for his barmitzvah. But he told me: “Much to my regret, I learned to read Hebrew, and I don’t remember any of it. It’s terrible. I wish I did, but anyway . . .”
Teddy was bit by the acting bug at school.
“I did a play and enjoyed it and, also, I felt I could do it,” he said. “My parents were publishers and they published everything except fiction.
“It’s quite a big company that they developed themselves. And they started to talk to me when I was in my mid-teens about one day taking over the business.
“I admired what they were doing hugely, but I had no interest in it whatever. I said I wanted to be an actor. And they said, ‘well, it’s not really a very good idea. but, if you can get into RADA, then maybe’.
“Much to their and my astonishment, I did. I left RADA when I was 18. and started professionally. And that’s what I’ve been doing ever since.
“RADA was a terrific experience. Imelda Staunton and I used to sing in restaurants together to get our Equity cards because at the time you had to have so many weeks or months of professional work before you could join Equity.”
He added: “They said RADA because they thought it would never happen. Having said that, they were extremely supportive.
“I have twin daughters. I am thrilled that neither of them is in the business. Jesse designed recipes for Hello Fresh, but she was headhunted by Mindful Chef.
“My other daughter, Sadie, works for Dignity in Dying. which is a charity to support people who would like to end their lives.
“She does an extraordinary job and it’s an extraordinary charity. Their bill has got through Parliament and the Lords and is going back to Parliament again.
“All you want for your children is for them to be happy. That’s it. I don’t care what they are earning, I just want them to be happy.
“One thing did happen when they were children. Because all their friends went to dance class and things like that, they went along.
“And then somebody at one of these places said, ‘oh, we’ve got your child in audition for a real job’. And we said, ‘thank you very much’. And never went back.
“We weren’t interested in pushing them into it. And bless them, they found other things that they wanted to do.”
Teddy’s wife Susannah Fellows was the second actress in the world to play Eva Peron in Evita. She was alternate to Elaine Paige in the world premiere of Sir Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s musical in 1978.
“She was a leading lady around town for years,” he told me. “And then she thought she’d done all that. And it’s difficult because all her family was in theatre as well. Her father was an actor, her stepmother a dancer.
“It took her a year or so to figure out what she wanted. And now she owns and runs an art gallery, bronzes, glass and ceramics.”
As well as an incredible CV of theatre productions, Teddy has appeared in countless films like Yentl and The World’s End, and television shows like Birds of a Feather, Bad Girls and The Bill.
Teddy is also a co-writer and producer of several animation series — Foxy Fables, Tales of a Wise King, Insektors and Witchworld. He also co-wrote Three Friends and Jerry, Something Else, Preston and a film called Clarence.
Paddingtonthemusical.com