REVIEW: A Christmas Carol: A Binaural Audio Experience

A pantomime audio adaption of A Christmas Carol featuring songs, buried treasure, a message from hell, pantomime aspects and Daisy the cow? Oh my! 

This adaption of A Christmas Carol follows Rosie (Keira MacAlister), a young woman of vague age, who goes to visit her uncle Edward Scrook (Zach Pierce) in his dark, cold house in a regional part of the U.K by the sea every Christmas. Edward, who made his fortune selling a fake ‘cure all’ medicine with partner Daniel McGloyne, hates Christmas and hates guests even more. He does, however, love money and spends his nights searching for the buried treasure his stingy ex partner hid beneath the sand. 

After Rosie goes to bed on Christmas Eve night, Scrook receives a surprise visit from his former partner who, fresh out of hell, tells him to change his ways to avoid a similar fate. Undeterred, Scrook take his metal detector outside for another spot of treasure hunting - and finds more than he bargained for. 

REVIEW: A Christmas Carol at the Dominion Theatre

Producer and Conductor Freddie Tapner wanted to bring a bit of joy and an uplifting message that it is “never too late to change” to the West End stage and never can the emotion and inspiration of that message have been felt more strongly than on this opening night of A Christmas Carol just four hours after the Government had announced Theatres in London must close again on Wednesday 16th December. What was already destined to be an outstanding show was elevated into one of the most magical nights I have ever experienced in the West End. The Producers, Creatives, Cast, Crew and Front of house staff used the news to put on a wonderful show and as Brian Conley said early on the best way to keep Covid at bay is to clap loudly and often and that is what this audience did from start to finish.  

Tapner and his London Musical Theatre Orchestra (a twenty-six-piece band laid out across the back of the huge Dominion stage) regularly stage Musical Theatre concerts and in recent years I have enjoyed their versions of Girlfriends and Camelot. But on this occasion the term concert does the production a disservice. This is a fully staged and choreographed multi-sensory celebration of life with a faultless cast and staging. Though the story is well known and often staged or filmed (this year there are many versions available) I was not familiar with the score, but it is instantly enjoyable with hints of Sondheim and Lerner and Lowe. Written by Alan Menken (Little Shop of Horrors, Beauty and the Beast, Sister Act and Newsies) with book and lyrics by Lynn Aherns and Mike Ockrent it tells the story mainly through song. 

REVIEW: A Christmas Story at the Waterloo East Theatre

Pasek and Paul are best known for the Broadway hit Dear Evan Hansen and the smash hit film the Greatest Showman but the retelling of the 1983 film A Christmas Story is a show lesser known. With book by Joseph Robinson, the show focuses on Ralphie and his quest to getting the "best Christmas present" in the lead up to the big day, told by Radio DJ and narrator Jean Shepherd.

The show is nostalgic in feel and tries very hard to get that quint essential Christmas spirit. The music itself is quite catchy with a highlight being "When You're A Wimp" performed by the ensemble of children that alternate with another group throughout the run. The night I watched the part of Ralphie was played by Felix Hepburn, who gave a wonderful performance as the 9-year-old leading role. The narrator of the piece was played by Garry Freer, who made me feel as if I really was in 1980's Manhattan listening to a radio broadcast. The roles of 'Mother' and 'Old man', Ralphie's parents where played very much within the style of piece by Lucyelle Cliffe (Legally Blonde) and Simon Wilmont (Mamma Mia). Cliffe's solo song What A Mother Does in act one, was another highlight of the show, giving a different tone to the comedy and light heartedness that had been played from the start.