Wind in the Willows: A Short-Lived Fun-Fest

Wind in The Willows has had at least three movie adaptations, a good number of spin-off books, and several stage versions. Today, however, I will be talking about the adaptation I consider to be at the top of the heap.

Right, time for a short history lesson. Styles and Drewe, the team behind Mary Poppins, have been at it again taking tales from everybody’s childhoods and masterfully writing a musical to please the ear, the eye, and everything else. Julian Fellowes’ script also brings to life the river bankers in a way that I certainly haven’t seen done before. The show toured the UK from 2016 to early 2017 before moving to the London Palladium until September 2017.

Now, if we went through the whole show in chronological order and explained everything that works about it, we’d be here all day and this article would be way too long. So, I’m just going to hit the points that I think make the musical work so well. Let’s do this!

The first is the immediate establishment of a ‘warm’ atmosphere. Let me explain myself a bit here. The opening song, entitled “Spring”, shows all the animals awakening from hibernation on a stage lit in light colours and it really sets the tone in that early wake, break-of-dawn kind of feel as the animals get on with their shenanigans. Even in the sets, there is a sense of comfort, especially in the way Mole and Badger’s homes are constructed. They’re relatively small, but they look cosy. You wouldn’t mind being in there with Ratty, Mole and the gang whilst carolling field mice sang praises to the animals of the riverbank (Yes, that happened in the show and the kids who sang it had spectacular voices. It was a nice, calm song with a lot of charm).

My next reason is the diverse nature of the songs in the show. Obviously, you have your musical theatre songs that stick in with the story such as “Messing About in a Boat” when Ratty and Mole meet for the first time and “As if it Were a Dream” during Toad’s trial (Brilliant Act 1 closer. Really gets you on the edge of your seat and you can pinpoint the exact point at which the you-know-what hits the fan for poor Mr. Toad). However, there are also these songs that break away from the story such as “The Hedgehog’s Nightmare” or “Autumn” that tell the stories of individual animals and are generally quite simple. The first song I just listed, for example, is about a family of hedgehogs who try to cross the road but end up deciding not to because they’re scared of the motorcars zooming past. Bottom line: These break-away songs work wonderfully.

The Weasels. Where do I begin with the weasels? I love them so much. Well, technically, I should be saying ‘The Wild Wooders’, since our antagonists are a pack made up of Foxes, Weasels and Stoats who go by that alias. They are portrayed in this show the way I always imagined them. They’re like a pack of insane, laughing madmen who revel in the mischief they make with no remorse. However, I don’t think this crazed, fun-loving trouble-making is personified as much in their introductory song (“The Wild Wooders”) as it is in the Act 2 opener (“We’re Taking Over The Hall”). As of the time of this article being written, you can find full recordings of both numbers on YouTube and you can decide for yourself but, in my opinion, the latter shows the weasels at their peak of not giving a hoot what happens because they’re on top and nobody is going to stop them without a fight. The twinge of rock instrumentation used in these numbers more than the other songs in the show also just gets me nodding my head to the beat and riled up in an awesome way.

Right, I’m going to talk about the main point I think this musical works. But don’t get me wrong, there are so many reasons this show is amazing. They range from the companionship between the main 4 characters, the imaginative costumes, the fantastic sets, the humour, every single song’s utter catchiness and entertainment level… but there’s one reason that tops them all.

Rufus Hound, Mr. Toad himself. Rufus was one of the two main players who took his role on tour and played it at the Palladium (The other was Neil McDermott who played the Chief Weasel). One anecdote from my trip to see the show basically sums it all up: When Toad burst through the doors of Toad Hall for the first time, the whole audience applauded. Hound is masterfully comedic, he knows how to play to the strengths of the character e.g. his overdramatic nature and very charismatic cheekiness. Rufus is also able to play a manic Mr. Toad very well. However, he doesn’t make Toad so goofy in certain moments that you can dismiss everything he does. The whole point of the story of Ratty, Mole, Badger and Toad is not purely to defeat the Wild Wooders but to overcome the gaps in their friendship and for Toad to learn to better himself and not be so selfish. I think this shines through the most in the beginning of the finale, when he turns to his friends and admits his flaws in a short reprise of “A Friend is Still a Friend” before making his final appearance in the show on a jetpack of all things. He has the silliness and arrogance that makes Toad hilarious but the heart to make him a likeable and understandable, three-dimensional character that the audience can get behind.

Whilst I was writing this article, I had the soundtrack on shuffle, so I could listen as I wrote, and I realized that not one of the songs has ever gotten old for me (despite the fact I also have most of the soundtrack on my phone). I think that alone is a testament to how enjoyable they are. As I said, you can find recordings of a few songs from the show on YouTube as well as a full professional filming of the musical through subscription to the BroadwayHD streaming service.

Thanks for reading, I’ll see you all soon,

Jack