Entertainment | ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ stage musical scores big in London

Bend It Like Beckham” has scored with critics in London. A new stage musical based on the 2002 film about aspiring female soccer players has opened to rave reviews. The musical is directed and co-written by Gurinder Chadha, who also made the movie, with music by Howard Goodall and lyrics by Charles Hart.
Most reviewers adored its warm heart and good humor, catchy songs infused with bhangra rhythms and Bollywood-influenced choreography.
Daily Telegraph critic Dominic Cavendish gave it five stars out of five Thursday, calling it “melting-pot Britain on one irresistible plate.” The Independent’s Paul Taylor said it was “the most irresistibly joyous musical-theatre make-over” since “Billy Elliot.”
And the Daily Mail’s Quentin Letts called it “end-to-end entertainment, full of feisty shimmers and heart- stopping melodrama.”