Review of The Snowman at Milton Keynes Theatre, Milton Keynes

For those of a certain age (me), Raymond Briggs' The Snowman formed quite a part of early Christmas childhood, despite at just 26 minutes, not featuring for a great deal of it, the song Walking in the Air especially lingers in the mind, and made a star of Aled Jones to boot. Seeing this extended stage show now reminds this, now a forty-plus year old, of the innocence of childhood that doesn't always exist as much now. Not to say the youngsters in attendance were virtually all captivated by the evening.

The Snowman is a simple tale of a boy who makes a snowman and on that magical evening, it comes to life and takes The Boy on an enchanting journey of exploration, including seeing Father Christmas. It's loving and innocent and deserves the tenderness of telling that this production brings to it.

No more telling how good this show is, is the brilliant moment all are waiting for, just before the interval as expected, when we are walking in the air. It is beautifully done and brings a lump to the throat without question, and on a technical note, it is brilliantly orchestrated by the team from Flying by Foy Ltd with no fuss and impresses greatly in the cleanness of the whole preparation and arrangement.

The Boy is played across performances by Johnny Jackson, Max Goodridge and George Nearn Stuart, and on review night, Jackson took the role and made it a captivating one. Showing maturity beyond his years, he enthralled the audience with his controlled performance. It is no mean feat to be the lead at such a tender age, and the three 9-11-year-olds in this productions tour have much on their shoulders and based alone on Jackson, they carry it well.

The rest of the cast, except Kane Hoad as The Snowman himself, works as a neatly controlled multi-rolling team in a menagerie of outlandish and brilliantly bold costumes. This show is often as much a dance show as a children's tale, especially in the second act when it becomes a story-lite excuse for having a good old knees-up at the North Pole, due to the stage show long having exhausted Briggs' original storyline. It doesn't matter though, as its all great fun. Dealing with the main bulk of the original story before the interval is a neat idea as it allows it to flow without interruption, and we only have the culmination to contend with after a frenzy of dance.

These dance sequences show the depth of quality within the show. Choreography from Robert North shows depths beyond what you might expect from a kids show, with Emanuela Atzeni as the Ice Princess/Music Box Ballerina and Ruben De Monte as Jack Frost the best of an excellent cast of dancers.

The whole show is played out upon a delightful snowglobe set by Ruari Murchison, brilliantly recreating the original design of the animation, right down to delightful trees and a cleverly growing in size home as the two friends venture around the house, it is a visual delight and perfect in every way for a children's show. Director Bill Alexander creates a lovely flowing show, with swift scene changes, while musical director Costas Fotopoulos and his musicians bring the beautiful score to life.

The Snowman is a delight for children young and old, bringing the joy of innocence and simple storytelling to new young minds and rekindling old ones for those longer in the tooth. Moments of The Snowman might melt your heart with the warmth it brings to the stage.

Visually stunning and brilliantly absorbing show for young and old.
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Performance reviewed: Wednesday 15th January 2020 at Milton Keynes Theatre, Milton Keynes.
The Snowman runs at Milton Keynes Theatre until Sunday 19th January 2020.

Further details about Milton Keynes Theatre can be found at http://www.atgtickets.com/venues/milton-keynes-theatre/

Photos: Tristram Kenton

Review of The Rocky Horror Show at Milton Keynes Theatre, Milton Keynes

Seeing the 46-year-old Rocky Horror Show at the theatre for the first time is quite an experience on many levels. First and foremost as a regular theatregoer, the audience, even on a relatively demure evening of a Monday, is something you would never really experience at a theatre beyond this show. Many are dressed up (even on that demure Monday), and so many are so in tune with the show, that these regular fans have become entwined within it. They know every word of the script, they contribute to it, they enhance it, often they make Richard O'Brien's already adult content into something much more adult. It's a revelation of experience, much before a newbie such as myself even considers the show. Laura Harrison's beautifully clear rendition of Science Fiction/Double Feature sets the scene for some generally excellent performances of O'Brien's classic tunes, in a musical which is clearly audible, sadly not something that always happens with many productio...

Review of Cinderella, performed by University Of Northampton BA Actors at Maidwell Hall (Avenue Campus), Northampton

So, this is a bit different, the third year actors (my fifth group of them!) do panto, Cinderella to be precise. Pantomime is my perennial favourite bit of theatre. Oh no, it isn't! However, I have long acknowledged that for an actor, the form is both incredibly important, because if you can entertain kids, you can probably do anything, it also provides a large opening for a regular gig each year as they are so abundant. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the intelligent bods teaching these students have come to the decision to create a little panto action of their own. This first of three (and the other two are very different beasts, as you will learn from the next reviews) is the ever so traditional one. Formed partly from the work of Looking Glass Theatre and director James Smith, I first saw much of this piece in January 2015, and although I didn't remember a great deal of it after this time, the cheese song managed to flash back to me, perhaps, sadly. So, ...

Review of Breaking the Code at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

Breaking The Code , the opening play in the new Made in Northampton season at Royal & Derngate, is a surprisingly old and rarely seen play. Written in 1986 by Hugh Whitemore, it tells the story of legendary codebreaker Alan Turing, a man who, in the 1980s, when this play first appeared, was relatively unknown. The years since the origin of this play have been good for Turing, with his life's work finally getting the recognition it deserves, and also, very much what this play centres on, a recognition of the horrific life and end that Turing had as a result of dealing with the laws of the day. Breaking the Code has seen life before on the stage of the Royal, as back in 2003, Philip Franks took to the role of Turing in a very well-received production. So, what of this brand new version directed by the Royal & Derngate's artistic director Jesse Jones? Does it live up to Turing's legend? That is an unquestionable yes with no machines needed to crack the class behind thi...

A Small Mind At The Theatre

Search This Blog