Water Babies Lyrics – All Songs from the Musical

"Water Babies" – The Musical Guide & Song Meanings

Review

Can a Victorian moral fable survive a 2014 musical reboot without turning into a lecture with a lighting budget? “Water Babies” at Leicester’s Curve tries to solve that problem by swapping soot and sermons for holograms, projections, and a modernized Tom who looks more hoodie-teen than Dickens waif. The result, depending on your tolerance for sentiment, is either a family fantasy with a few genuinely strong ballads or a two-hour argument for why “message musicals” need sharper jokes and cleaner dramaturgy.

The lyric-writing agenda is clear: Tom must learn that choices have consequences, and empathy is a muscle you build. The text keeps tugging toward redemption, sometimes with a bluntness critics pounced on, but the better moments land because the score gives the singers room to phrase the conflict rather than simply announce it. Mrs D, the fairy-guide figure, functions like a human(ish) conscience in a show that otherwise risks being a sequence of underwater encounters; when the lyrics aim for direct address, they also reveal the show’s big bet: that moral clarity can still feel modern if it’s sung with enough conviction.

Musically, Chris Egan’s approach leans into contemporary theatre-pop balladry with “showstopper” instincts. That’s a smart fit for a story about yearning and escape, and a less smart fit when the plot needs pace. When the orchestrations swell, you understand why reviewers kept praising the voices even while questioning the storytelling. In short: the score often sounds like it believes in the show more than the book does, and that belief is contagious in the right hands.

Copyright note: This guide does not reproduce full song lyrics. It focuses on meaning, context, and how the writing functions in performance.

How It Was Made

“Water Babies” (Curve, 24 April to 17 May 2014) arrived with the kind of ambition regional theatres love and fear: a world premiere designed to look expensive. The creative spine was Ed Curtis (director, book and lyrics) and Guy Jones (book and lyrics), paired with composer Chris Egan. Producer Peter Shaw had a long-standing desire to bring Charles Kingsley’s story to the stage and argued the technology finally made it possible. That “now we can do it” rationale shaped the production as much as any character arc.

The signature gadget was a 3D hologram sequence casting Richard E Grant as Kraken, “as live” with actors onstage. It was a headline-grabber, and it also became a kind of metaphor for the show’s larger tension: the staging is often the most coherent storyteller in the room. When you build a new musical around stagecraft promises, the writing has to fight harder to stay central. Sometimes it does. Sometimes the waves win.

Key Tracks & Scenes

"The Last Page" (Tom & Ellie)

The Scene:

Act One. Two teenagers snap into intimacy at high speed, perched on the edge of trouble. The staging treats their connection like a deadline: the world is closing in, so the duet has to do the work of a whole courtship.

Lyrical Meaning:

The title implies a story already written, then challenged. The lyric tension is between fate (Tom’s past, Ellie’s confinement) and agency (the hope that one choice can edit the ending).

"Catch Me" (Tom)

The Scene:

Near the waterfall moment, where flight turns into plunge. The set language sells risk: height, glare, and the sense that gravity is a character with a contract.

Lyrical Meaning:

This is Tom’s thesis statement: if someone reaches for him, he might become reachable. The lyric function is less romance than permission to change.

"This World" (Mrs D)

The Scene:

Mrs D holds the stage like a lighthouse, anchoring the show’s moral logic while the visuals swirl. The lighting typically turns aquatic and ceremonial, giving her a “guardian” silhouette.

Lyrical Meaning:

Mrs D’s writing tends to speak in principles, but the best lines sharpen into something specific: Tom is not only escaping punishment, he’s escaping himself. The lyric frames the ocean as an internal landscape, not a theme-park ride.

"Waiting For You" (Mrs D & Ellie)

The Scene:

A ballad showcase, built for two powerhouse voices. The emotional staging is simple by design: isolate the singers, let the harmonies do the set dressing, and trust the audience to fill in the absence with longing.

Lyrical Meaning:

The song turns “waiting” into an action rather than a pause. Ellie becomes more than a prize at the surface, and Mrs D becomes more than a narrator; both are articulating the cost of hope when you have no control over time.

"Die Another Day" (Claude, Terrence & Jock)

The Scene:

The comic sea-creature trio arrive with costume flamboyance and movement that reads “variety act underwater.” This is where the show briefly stops sermonizing and remembers it’s meant to entertain.

Lyrical Meaning:

The joke-writing doubles as worldview: survival as punchline. It’s levity with a job, puncturing the plot’s earnestness and giving Tom a model of resilience that isn’t sanctimony.

"Friends in High Places" (Eel)

The Scene:

The villain gets his costume-and-dancers moment, the kind of number that wants a nightclub spotlight even if you’re allegedly under the sea. It’s swagger theatre.

Lyrical Meaning:

The lyric advertises a corruption economy: power is social, power is traded, power is borrowed. In a show about “right choices,” the villain number is the clearest argument for why wrong choices feel so good.

"The End" (Mrs D)

The Scene:

Late in the piece, when the show turns from quest mechanics toward closure. Mrs D’s staging tends to become ritualistic again, as if the moral is being sealed.

Lyrical Meaning:

The title sounds final, but the lyric intention is usually restorative: end as release, end as repair. It’s the show’s attempt to turn its lesson into emotion rather than instruction.

Live Updates

Information current as of 2 February 2026. The 2014 Curve production remains the musical’s defining public footprint, with no widely documented professional revival, West End transfer, or touring production announced in major theatre outlets in the intervening years. The most visible afterlife has been online promotional material and performance clips (including “Waiting For You” and making-of footage), plus continuing references in reviews and retrospectives about notable songs from short-lived shows.

One concrete industry signal: “Water Babies Musical UK Limited,” the producing company name associated with the project, is listed as dissolved in U.K. company data aggregators, and a 2015 report on U.K. theatre crowdfunding linked the show to financial trouble after reviews. If you’re searching for tickets in 2026, you’re likely encountering unrelated “Water Babies” brands (infant swim schools, workshops, older adaptations). The Curve show is its own specific entity: Egan, Curtis, Jones, 2014, and a lot of water effects.

Notes & Trivia

• Two thirds of the staging was designed to read “underwater,” combining projections, traditional illusion, and real water effects.
• Richard E Grant’s Kraken was planned as an interactive 3D hologram effect performing “as live” with stage actors.
• Reviewers repeatedly singled out Louise Dearman’s vocal work, especially in “This World,” and the duet blend in “Waiting For You.”
• Multiple critics praised Morgan Large’s design while still questioning the show’s narrative clarity.
• The comic trio (Claude, Terrence, Jock) were frequently cited as scene-stealers, with “Die Another Day” noted as a lift in energy and tone.
• Tom was aged up to a teenager in the 2014 musical, shifting the story’s moral focus from child-victimhood to adolescent agency and culpability.

Reception

Critics largely agreed on one thing: the technical ambition was real. Where they split was on whether the writing justified the scale. Some found the piece overloaded and tonally uncertain; others saw potential, especially in the score and performances, even when the storytelling wobbled.

“Terminally high-minded and interminably long.”

“Buoyant performances … brighten a messy remake.”

“Makes a splash with an impressive score and stellar … cast.”

Quick Facts

• Title: Water Babies
• Year: 2014
• Type: New musical (world premiere production)
• Based on: Charles Kingsley’s novel “The Water-Babies”
• Music: Chris Egan
• Book & Lyrics: Ed Curtis and Guy Jones
• Director: Ed Curtis
• Venue (premiere): Curve Theatre, Leicester (24 April to 17 May 2014)
• Notable staging: Underwater effects, projections, and a Richard E Grant Kraken hologram concept
• Selected notable song placements: “The Last Page” (Act One duet), “Waiting For You” (ballad duet), “Die Another Day” (comic trio feature), “Friends in High Places” (villain number)
• Album / recording status: No widely documented commercial cast album release as of 2 February 2026; official visibility is primarily through promotional video performances and press material.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this the same “Water Babies” as the 1978 animated film?

No. The 2014 stage musical is a new score and new book/lyrics team. It shares the Kingsley source and some conceptual DNA, but it is a separate musical project.

Who wrote the lyrics for the 2014 musical?

Ed Curtis and Guy Jones are credited with the book and lyrics for the Curve premiere.

What’s the show’s big lyrical idea?

Choice. The writing keeps steering Tom toward moral agency: not just escaping consequences, but earning a different ending through empathy and responsibility.

What song should I start with if I only want one number?

“Waiting For You.” It’s the most frequently cited standout, and it contains the show’s emotional thesis in miniature: longing with purpose.

Is the musical running or touring in 2026?

There is no widely documented professional run, tour, or revival announced in major theatre outlets as of 2 February 2026.

Key Contributors

Sources: Curve Theatre (official show page and news); British Theatre Guide; Whatsonstage; The Guardian; Musical Theatre Review; Playbill; Demon Online; contemporary review blogs and performance clips.