A Christmas Cringle

All Saints (Elton)'s Christmas Cringle was a lovely mixture of well known carols, Christmas songs and short plays. The cast looked very festive in their black and red with glittery accent pieces. We were also treated to the very first performance of the emerging All Saints Youth Group dressed as elves, to say it only consists of six members so far they did a great job on stage and were not fazed by the audience, yes there were some prompts but nothing major. They followed Musical Director Helen Shaw's gestures for vocals and were also keeping a very close eye on Theatre Youth Director, Charlotte Crowley, for stage direction.

The concert opened with "White Christmas", I am an absolute stickler for enunciation but I was very pleased to hear every single "t" sound during this song. Maureen Tarrier gave us a gentle, moving performance of "The Christmas Song "(Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire), it's delivery allowed the audience to relax and reminisce for a few moments before being swept along in a very jolly and upbeat performance of "Walking In A Winter Wonderland". There were some lovely harmonies coming through that weren't overpowering and it was pleasing to see the cast smiling and obviously enjoying themselves. We (the audience) were provided with lyrics booklets and very actively encouraged to join in which we did.

The plays - "The Ramsbottom's Christmas Cookery Book", "A Ten Minute Christmas Carol" and the rewritten "T'was the Night Before Christmas " were all huge hits with the audience. There were some very strong comedic elements and the chemistry on stage was evident. The sets and props were simple and interchangeable for all three plays. The "snow" thrown over the audience at the end was a nice very touch and certainly made the audience feel included.

Other soloists were Tony Rostron, Beth Timperley and Elaine Williams-Jones. Tony sang " The Christmas Tree" by Bobby Vinton, it was acapella as no music only accompaniment could be tracked down, it was a lovely nostalgic moment and timing was good. Beth sang "Silent Night" , again like Maureen it was a very soft and gentle performance and totally fitting to the Carol. Elaine and Beth both did solo verses in "We Three Kings" , they were confident in their delivery and timing and enunciation was good. The music was controlled by Andy Milthorpe , everything cue'd in well and sound levels were good . The concert was compèred, written and directed by Chris Terry, it had some nice flow to it, I appreciate that it is a performance for the community and not as serious and stringent as a musical and you should all be proud of yourselves as the mood was festive and joyful and your community certainly enjoyed it.

Thank you for your hospitality, I look forward to seeing you all again soon.

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