Thursday, 15 December 2022

Nativity The Musical (15.12.2022 - Birmingham Rep)


10 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!

Buy tickets for Nativity The Musical at Birmingham Rep here (external link)

The introduction to the review:
Warning! This may not be the most objective review due to my deep abiding love of all things Nativity! franchise related - including the gorgeous musical. I originally booked these tickets to see the show in December 2020 for a fourth year in a row; a pesky little Grinch called Covid-19 put paid to that so the tickets were deferred to December 2021. No go, so I'm delighted that Nativity The Musical was finally able to return this year to celebrate its fifth anniversary in the very place it launched - and where I saw it first. One of things I love most about the musical is the reverence to the much loved movie whilst adding some new layers as only a musical can. Writer/Producer/Director/Future Santa, Debbie Isitt, makes enough little tweaks to keep it fresh (there are some Liz Truss/Matt Hancock jokes in there) - but at the core is the little movie that could sharing its sparkle and shine. No wonder people fall so irrevocably in love with this. It is a winter marvel...

The optional bit of the review:
I'm the kind who keeps Christmas lights up all the way to June - spring, summer and autumn I'm whistling a holiday tune. I love Christmas. But here's the personal bit so do feel free to skip ahead. My dad died a few weeks before I saw this show - and to borrow from Emma Thompson's character in Love, Actually, I went into cold, unfeeling mode. Not that I didn't care, I did very deeply indeed - I just didn't seem to have the feelings within me to express it. I wasn't having the same magic and sparkle I usually have as the most wonderful time of the year draws near - I worried I may have lost it forever, though logically I knew it was far too early to make such drastic assumptions. Grief is a funny thing though - it can appear in lots of ways (some of these are very much embedded in the musical. Paul Maddens feels grief at the ending of his relationship; Jennifer's Hollywood boss is still mourning the loss of his wife); and can be unblocked in the most amazing ways.

To be clear, I didn't go into my fourth trip to a Nativity The Musical production like a robot. I was very much looking forward to the show but very aware I was putting a lot of pressure on it and myself to unleash something delightfully festive within me that would help me feel that wonder of the season I treasure so much. As you will see from the bullet points below, it is thoroughly enjoyable, emotional, hilarious and rewarding from start to finish. The cast are uniformly excellent and the audience was in full adoration mode. I made it through Dear Father Christmas, but at Sparkle and Shine, the sheer radiant power of that song shifted something inside me. There was the realisation it was OK to celebrate this time of year whilst mourning dad. Here's something you won't believe - the song unleashed a flood of happy tears I didn't even know where there. Just amazes me how one moment of one night was able to do that - what a gift this show continues to be.

The essential bit of the review (all the best bits):
  • I absolutely would have wanted to attend M.A.D.A alongside Paul, Gordon and Jennifer. I would have made an excellent third reindeer during the opening number of Here Comes Santa Claus (which sets the story for the whole show). I wore my best reindeer jumper in honour of this opening song so was jolly happy it was such a vibrant beginning.
  • Going For The Big Time reminds us that this musical is about dreams - what we expect of them and how we deal with them when things don't go our way. It is about Mrs Bevans becoming disillusioned over her time as a teacher/head teacher; Gordon Shakespeare not hitting the big time and feeling excluded by his friends; Paul mourning the break up he has with Jennifer (sorry for the spoiler) and Mr Poppy mourning the fact he never had any real friends. Debbie Isitt skilfully weaves these dreams together across the show and it makes the finale all the more euphoric.
  • Let's talk Gordon Shakespeare - he always gets the boos but I think he is very misunderstood. Matthew Rowland did a great job of being a bit of a pompous arse whilst also just showing that hint of vulnerability. I'd seen Matthew as Ogie in Waitress and if the Nativity powers that be are smart they will never let themselves let him leave. Plus, he had the most amazing eyebrows...
  • Ben Lancaster breathed a different type of energy into Mr Poppy. How he nuanced his performance from larger than life, boisterous, over-zealous puppy at the start of the show to big old softie with a heart of gold by the end was a joy to behold. You can see the change that as Mr Maddens starts to understand his behaviours and talk to him about real life consequences there is a shift in how he is (yet never losing the fun factor).
  • Billy Roberts was just lovely as Mr Maddens (and as the lady next to me loudly proclaimed in intermission, "I wouldn't mind one shade of grey, let alone two or fifty with him". The sauce). He channelled that broken heart into a not quite curmudgeonly as Scrooge behaviour - the Dear Santa moment where he realised he'd been focusing on the wrong things was quite delightful. Plus he and Ben Lancaster had an amazing chemistry that just crackled every time they interacted.
  • Daisy Steere has some great moments as Jennifer, not least her Abba's Day Before You Came-meets Dolly's Nine to Five song of Jennifer's Request; but her duets with Billy are musical theatre gold. Wrapped In A Rainbow is charming and Suddenly (not the Angry Anderson song though they would be amazing at that) matches theatrical numbers like Almost Paradise (Footloose) and A Million Miles Away (Aladdin). 
  • There are some great Carry On Nativity! style jokes around the Lord Mayor's Ball (how he only has one, fnar fnar, among others) which pleased an ITV3 at the weekend lover like me. Jemma Churchill (Mrs Bevans) and Ralph Bogard (Lord Mayor) are subtle and subtly obvious in their ongoing flirtation with each other and I like to think they both retired together somewhere really exotic as a reward for their life long service to others. Where? Oh I don't know, let's say Morecambe.
  • Talking of Jemma Churchill, what a national treasure. I first had the pleasure of seeing her in in earlier iterations of this musical and her Mrs Bevan is always been so lovingly respectful. She really understands how to portray a teacher who didn't achieve all she wanted whilst still holding onto a modicum of dignity and a little pocket of stardust (hope). 
  • Going back to the Ball, I loved the same sex couple - portrayed by Callum Train and Louie Wood. Representation matters! Good time to mention Tom Hext's scene stealing, possibly gender fluid Mr Rye/twin sister Cara Rye (I'm assuming). He was flirty, dirty, a bit of a bad Bertie and quite happy to lunge in his sports kit as he was to dance like a sugar plum fairy. CALL ME! 
  • Jamie Chapman gets multiple characters, 12 wig changes (the blonde quiff being his finest, obviously) and 48 costume changes and he is always ON. From his opening Christmas Tree character to his deliciously bitchy receptionist role to his famed Patrick Burns, every moment you look at him (even when he isn't centre stage) he is fully embracing his character. Get some Elecon cream for those piles Patrick, you'll feel much better luv.
  • Cameron Johnson is probably quite a nice studio boss in comparison to some of the LA folks you hear about but he still managed to make Jennifer's life a bit miserable. She's like the ghost of Christmas past, present and future all in one to him and his change is most profound in a touching rendition of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas with young William Stafford. 
  • Like Vanessa Williams said, save the best for last - and those kids were definitely going to find themselves on Santa's nice list. All blooming excellent, adorable, funny, child like, sweet, charming and mesmerising. Whether it be Abigail Salt's dazzling star or Kyrelle Lammy's Gabrielle, they were all sparkling and shining every moment they were on stage. And probably when they were off. Ably aided by their ensemble - lovely to see star of Christmas on Mistletoe Farm, Sydney Isitt-Ager there alongside a getting down'n'funky TJ's mum, Eliza Waters. 
  • One more thing - most of the second act is the Nativity play itself, where all the stories get wrapped up, happiness abounds and if - like me - you are a fan of the film or been to the musical previously, the whole thing is like an amazing greatest hits concert where all your favourites are bound to be played. And we got post show proposal! Doesn't get more winter wonderland than that. Go see it and then tell everyone you've ever met about it.
BONUS FEATURES - spin off ideas:
The world of Nativity! is so vast that you could have multiple spin offs just for the characters in the musical. I'd love to see a Catherine Tate style sketch show starring Jamie Chapman, being a Christmas Tree (maybe one who pops up in lots of productions - Cats, Lion King, Hamilton, etc), gossipy Irish priest, tour guide to the stars in that there Hollywood and passive but mostly aggressive receptionist for PP productions. But mostly, I'd like to see Patrick Burns go and judge Christmas On Mistletoe Farm's Gerald's (also played by Jamie Chapman) latest production of Calendar Girls. Now that is a Netflix ready show if ever I heard of one.

Let's not forget opportunities for Paul Maddens and Gordon Shakespeare to join up for the Easter Production of Judas: A Misunderstood Man (a la Love Actually "it's the first time the local schools have joined together you see David. I've been making the octopus costume for months. 8 is a lot of legs"); ooo or checking in on the Lord Mayor and Mrs Lord Mayor-Bevans at their new B&B in Morecambe, catering for the upper lower middle class.; Jennifer soon-to-be Maddens becoming an agent to TJ's mum whilst trying to find her own path in the producing world; oh, or what about Mr Poppy's School Trips where, each week, he takes the kids to magical far off lands like Tott En Ham or Cobbledon! The possibilities are endless. 

**Ghosts of Christmas past**
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