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A miracle waiting to happen
Miracle on 34th Street - The Musical Wolverhampton Grand *** IMAGINE being a child on a bright crisp
Christmas morning. You open a present you have been waiting for, switch
it on and . . . nothing; no one remembered the batteries and the shops
are closed. Miracle on 34th Street is a bit like that.
Everything is there but somehow it just doesn’t seem to work. You can’t blame the cast, they acted their socks
off but they were hardly helped by poor sound quality and dreadful
interference and feedback, particularly in the first act. The three large stage blocks making up Macy’s
store windows seemed to take ages to place in position for scene changes
as did the yin and yang shaped blocks which made up Fred’s apartment. The musical, which first opened in 1963 under the
name Here’s Love, with book, music and lyrics by Meredith Willson (best
known for The Music Man) is based on the 20th Century Fox film
from 1947, which is a quite a burden to carry. The film won an Oscar for supporting actor for
Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle as well as Oscars for best screenplay for
director George Seaton and best original story for Valentine Davies. It
also starred Maureen O’Hara, John Payne and an eight-year-old Natalie
Wood. More importantly, for any subsequent version, it
became one of the best-loved Christmas films of all time, still popular
today, 66 Christmases on. It was a piece of whimsy, for children the
magic of Christmas in an age of innocence and for adults a sort of warm
nostalgia of Christmases past, logic pushed aside, perhaps we would all
secretly like Santa Claus to be true – at least until the credits
rolled. Above all the black and white film had charm, by
the Santa’s sackful, and that is something sadly lacking in this stage
version.
There is much rushing about and short scenes,
which might work on screen, but the result here was bitty rather than
slick and perhaps a gentler pace at times might have helped develop the
charm that this sentimental story is crying out for. The pivotal court
scene, for example, was more reminiscent of performance of Chicago
than Seaton’s more measured version. And when it came to snow . . . just
one corner of the stage managed a sprinkling from above. Whether budget
constraints or technical failure, it was hardly the stuff of White
Christmas The story is simple. Doris, played with haughty
efficiency, and a soft heart of course, by Genevieve Nicole, believes in
nothing you can’t see, smell, touch, hear or taste – which makes the
concept of Father Christmas a bit of a no-no. Her no belief without
proof philosophy seems to stem from a somewhat short and less than happy
marriage. She is the store executive organising New York
department store Macy’s Christmas parade, Christmas of course being a
marketing opportunity, and her hired Santa has been partaking of a
little too much festive spirit – 40 per cent proof – so she hires a
passing bearded, elderly gent, Kris Kringle, played with suitable
avuncularity by James Murphy, to take his place. The only problem is Kringle actually believes he
is Father Christmas and slowly Doris’s daughter Poppy Carter starts to
believe it as well, encouraged by ex-marine and newly qualified lawyer
Fred, played with a laid-back air by Daniel Fletcher. Fred has fallen
for Doris and she for him, although she doesn’t know it yet. Kringle doesn’t quite get the idea of retailing
and happily sends customers to other stores to buy if Macy’s don’t have
a product or are more expensive than competitors. Suicidal, except it makes Macy’s the most popular
store on the block, until the store psychologist (Gary Roe), who seems
to hate everyone, applies to have Kris Kringle committed as a genial
nutter on the grounds he believes he actually is Santa Claus, hence the
court case, with Fred as his lawyer, to argue his case.
It’s a modern day fairy-tale and to be fair this
production only opened in Hayes on Monday, November 11, Croydon Tuesday
and Wednesday and opened at Wolverhampton in Thursday – rather like an
American tourist doing Europe in a fortnight. Three venues in four days
has hardly given the production time to bed down and settle in, and it
shows. Hopefully some of the rough edges will be smoothed out and the
sound and technical problems will vanish as the show evolves. There is good support from Shaun McCourt as the
District attorney who also doubles as the Mayor of New York where, to be
honest, he does look a little like a work experience Mayor. Not his
fault I hasten to add but age and gravitas comes with . . . well
age. The same can be said of Paul Cleveland who is a
convincing, if rather young looking, boss of one of the greatest
department stores in the world. It is more Master than Mister Macy.
Again though, he does nothing wrong and is rather good in the part. David Kristopher-Brown gives us an enthusiastic
Shellhammer, in charge of the store’s toy section, and he is
particularly enthusiastic about selling the 7,000 plastic alligators he
inadvertently ordered. Incidentally, a small point I know, but perhaps
the closing scene, the final confirmation for Susan that Santa exists
when the present she has asked Santa for looks like it is about to
arrive, could be made a little clearer for those who have not seen the
film. Perhaps a look and a wink from Santa while Fred shows Doris a
photograph? The musical numbers, including Willson’s 1951
song It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, are pleasant
rather than memorable with no real show stopper and choreography by
Richard Jones has some highlights, particularly in the opening parade
where we see a hard working ensemble who cover every other part in the
show. And as I said at the start, the elements in this
production, directed by Nicola Samer, are all there and with a little
persuasion and time on the road to bed down, the miracle might yet
happen. To 16-11-13. Roger Clarke
***
CHRISTMAS is coming and Santa is already up and running in this touring
stage version of the famous 1947 film. But, hard as the cast
work, the musical never reaches any great heights, particularly in the
build-up during the first act. Basically the story revolves
round a gentle portly man with a beard who gets the job of Father
Christmas at a major New York store, and impresses customers with his
honesty even though it puts him in line for the sack (the dismissal kind
rather than the toy-toting version). James Murphy is convincing as
Kris Kringle who even directs some of the customers to rival stores
where they can get a better bargain, and he causes young Susan (Poppy
Carter) to shake off family problems and believe in him
Strong performances, too, from Genevieve Nicole as Poppy's high-flying
mother, Doris, Daniel Fletcher (Fred) and David Kristopher-Brown (Shellhammer). The show has more bite in the
second act during the Supreme Court hearing when Kringle needs to try
and prove he is the genuine Father Christmas. But he nearest thing to a miracle seen by the audience on opening night - when there were a few sound problems - came when snow fell on just a third of the
stage! Paul Marston
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