Picture: Nick Rutter
Miracle on 34th Street – A Live Musical Radio Play continues at the Bridge House Theatre, London until 23 December.
Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
This clever show takes us to a radio studio in 1947 where six actors and their narrator accompanist are performing a musical play.
That means that we can enjoy the fun of the impressively versatile Jamie Ross doing sound effects – such as pouring liquid and closing doors – from his keyboard. That’s when he’s not intoning intros in gloriously strangled 1940s RP.
Often he talks and plays piano accompaniments at the same time. And he sings to thicken up some of the ensemble numbers too.
The play within a play is about a kindly, elderly chap (Richard Albrecht who doesn’t sing and uses an English accent) who takes a job as Santa Claus in Macy’s, the famous New York City flagship department store. Gradually, he becomes convinced that he really is Santa Claus and gets committed to a mental hospital.
Running underneath this is a romance between a divorced Macy’s section head and a lawyer, rivalry between Macy’s and another department store, Gimbels, and much more.
Director Guy Retallack has assembled a talented bunch for this show. Lowenna Melrose finds an unusual stillness for Doris Walker, which tells us how troubled and lonely her character is, bringing up a child alone. Then when she smiles, it lights the room. She sings very strongly too.
Emily Carewe plays Doris’ daughter Susan, winding various adults round her little finger and creating an accurate, well-observed tone of voice.
As Doris’ love interest and the man who eventually gets Santa Claus (or is he really just Kris Kringle?) out of trouble, Ellis Dackombe looks the part with his little 1940s moustache. He’s warm and convincing too, whoever he’s sharing dialogue with.
Two highly accomplished actor/singers play most of the other parts. Amy Reitsma sings like a nightingale, struts, snaps, becomes coy with embarrassment and more according to the part she’s playing.
And in many ways Lewis Rae is the star of the show. He switches in a second from being the manipulative, unscrupulous self-interested psychiatrist to the cigar smoking Mr Macy along with a battery of other parts.
His face is so expressive that there is never the slightest doubt which role he’s in at any given moment and his singing is outstanding.
One of the high spots of this entertaining piece is the arrangements of, and references to, traditional Christmas music which are beautifully sung in close harmony (original songs and arrangements by Jon Lorenz). There is no amplification because of the size of the venue so it’s all very natural.
Then there are the Penge jokes. When my editor asked me to write this review she very apologetically wondered if I could possibly get to Penge. That’s the sort of back of beyond image it has, although it’s actually quite local to me.
The show gives us a “paid for advertisement” every 20 minutes or so because we’re meant to be on live radio. Each one is, hilariously and affectionately, Penge-related. It’s a lovely touch in a fine piece of theatre.
Susan Elkin
SHARE THIS POST:
Comments are closed.