Christmas in New York – Palace Theatre

Christmas in New York at the Palace Theatre, London.

Making its return to London after a three-year hiatus, Christmas in New York is a selection box of festive favourites – pop songs, show tunes, carols and hymns – presented by some of the leading lights of the West End. At the top of this year’s Christmas tree, however, was not a West End star but a Broadway one: Eden Espinosa, best known for her roles as Elphaba in Wicked and Maureen in Rent.

The format of the show is a stand-and-deliver cabaret, with the band – in this case, a nine-piece group comprising a string quartet, reeds, guitar, bass guitar, drums and piano, all handled well by MD Joe Louis Robinson from the keyboard – at the back of the stage. An occasional ensemble comprising Ambra Caserotti, Sarah Goggin, Nathan Lodge and Sebastian Thomas provided extra support to the soloists and, for the big finale, a choir of first-year students from London’s Musical Theatre Academy joined in.

The backbone of the evening, though, was a six-strong troupe of West End performers: Andy Coxon, Zoe Rainey, Scott Garnham, Tori Allen-Martin, Lucy May Barker and Luke Kempner. In solos, pairs and groups, this youthful team delivered a delightful string of Christmas favourites (indeed, with 25 songs in total, this was a well-stuffed turkey of a gig!).

After the company introduced the night with ‘Christmas In New York’, headliner Espinosa took the spotlight with the decidedly unfestive but thankfully profanity-free ‘Empire State of Mind’, firmly setting the scene for anyone left in doubt by the opening number. She then returned for the opening and closing of Act II, treating us to a beautiful rendition of ‘Silent Night’ just after the interval – after which she cajoled the audience into singing along, which they did ably – and bringing the evening to a close leading the company in ‘O Holy Night’.

In between, the songs and performances that worked best were those in which the performers’ characters could shine, such as ‘Santa Baby’ from Lucy May Barker, who, poured into a devilishly red dress, clearly didn’t get the same ‘wear black’ email that everyone else received. ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’ worked particularly well, with Tori Allen-Martin acting as the wolfish sexual predator to Scott Garnham’s all-too-willing mousy prey. And receiving the biggest cheer of the night was special guest Julie Atherton – a former Christmas in New York headliner – who turned the air blue with her hilariously naughty number ‘My Simple Christmas Wish’. Indeed, we could’ve done with a few more comedy numbers to add variety to the night.

There was also much joy to be had in those songs with the simplest of arrangements. Atherton’s other number – ‘Winter’, performed with support from the excellent Stacey Ghent and Tegan Edwards – enjoyed a delicate piano backing, for example, while Allen-Martin’s ‘Perfect Year’ was accompanied for the most part by some delicate picking at the guitar. On saying that, I was surprised that the closing of Act I – the rousing ‘Extraordinary Merry Christmas’ by the company – was left just to Robinson on the piano.

So if you like your West End glamour served with bubbly and a healthy slab of Wensleydale and cranberry, look out for Christmas in New York. It’s a fun, irony-free night out that, thanks to its superlative cast and Broadway leading lady, is elevated above those cynical pop-up gigs that cash in on Christmas. Okay, some of the band could’ve done with one more rehearsal, and the lighting was literally hit and miss, but still, it certainly got me in the festive mood.

 Craig Glenday