Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol – Southbank Centre

Robert Bathurst, George Maguire and company in Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol at the Southbank Centre, London. Picture: Manuel Harlan

Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol continues at the Southbank Centre, London until 8 January 2022.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

An almost perfect, feelgood Dolly mixture of festive-themed song and dance mixed in with some social despair and renewed hope, this all-new festive musical ticks most of the boxes you would expect of what is a polished production with an impeccable pedigree.

For starters, the music and lyrics are by the always fabulous Dolly Parton, who though not actually on stage, has her stamp all over it. Adapted by David H. Bell, Paul T. Couch and Curt Wollan, with book also by Bell, this pretty much delivers what it says on the tin.

Set in 1936 in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee (a region very close to Parton’s heart), it’s great credit to this eminently likeable cast that it quickly establishes a strong sense of community at the outset, making its trials and tribulations as the story progresses all the more credible.

Blend the hardship of the mining community with Dickens’ world of a traditional Christmas Carol and you have the foundations of what proves to be an engaging evening (directed and choreographed by Alison Pollard) with a fair few musical highlights, a good few tears, both of sadness and joy and only a few shortcomings.

As Scrooge, Robert Bathurst is the perfect personification of meanness, misery and precious little mirth, his final redemption being played beautifully, while as Cratchit/Marley, George Maguire is the perfect foil. It’s only when he dramatically appears as the spirit of Scrooge’s deceased business partner that the show really takes off.

There are a couple of festive crackers, number-wise, ‘Appalachian Snowfall’ (company) and ‘Three Candles’, performed by young Eben (Danny Whitehead) and Fanny (Sarah O’Connor), being the pick of the bunch and both even worthy of a later reprise, a creative vehicle that usually invokes my suspicions, but not on this occasion.

At times, the dialogue linking the music is a bit leaden, and storylines a little clunky and that’s when you do question whether this can keep the attention of a younger audience throughout. What tips the balance is the cast’s obvious enthusiasm, boundless energy, lively choreography and obvious creative bond that this talented company has clearly created on stage. Plus its impressive, collective vocal power, at full volume this company could blow any snowstorm away.

Given that, it seems almost churlish to point out individuals, but Iona Fraser (Eliza) is vocally outstanding – a big compliment given the strength of other singers on stage – while the contributions of O’Connor, Vicki Lee Taylor and Halle Brown are key.

The main mining set, as fittingly dour as it is, could maybe have been changed a few times. While there are, of course, some serious messages here about poverty and unfairness in society, no one really comes to a Christmas show for too long a social history lesson. And that’s the nagging doubt about what is otherwise a highly entertaining evening. Namely, that you go away thinking it could just have been a whole lot more festive, fun and funnier – for all ages. That said, Parton would be proud.

Derek Smith