Miracle on 34th Street

The scene was set for this show with the theatre curtains made to look like the bottom of Father Christmas’ coat and this was able to give the capacity audience a flavour of things to come, and it sure did.

This was a great show although I have to say it was a little long, especially the first half and I could sense people around me start to fidget as the time went on, but this is a fault of the show itself and not the production, however I did feel the parade in the first half was a little long and I did hear someone say in the foyer “I thought that parade was never going to end”, I suspect this was lengthy due to logistics of getting a scene set etc, I do have to say the scene changes were in the main very slick and moved on without hindering the show one bit.

In a show such as this you do need someone very fitting to play the leading part of Kris Kringle, well Rotherham MTC could not have found anyone more perfect than Donald McKinnes, apart from looking very much like Richard Attenborough who played it in the film and I appreciate you don’t have to look like the person who played it on stage or in a film but Donald did look every bit like the archetypal Father Christmas we have all come to love. Of course it is not just a case of looking like the character you also have to be able to give the full works which he did, Donald was perfect in every way for this part.

In the part of Doris Walker, the person who hires Kris Kringle to be Father Christmas was Sally Beech who was able to sing, dance and act her way through this with ease, this part calls for someone who has both the comedic skills as well as being able to show off their dramatic skills and here we had someone who was able to do just that, playing the part of her daughter, Susan Walker, on stage was Sally’s real life daughter Darcy, or at least she did the evening I was there. To say Darcy was good was an understatement; she was excellent having all the same qualities as her mother to make this a truly believable part. Although I didn’t have the opportunity to see her perform I am sure Jorjia Morris will have also given a great performance as Susan Walker.

In all shows there has to be a love interest and this show was no different with Ashley Booker playing the part of Fred, again Ashley was excellent being able to show off his fine acting skills and singing, both he and Sally made a great partnership on stage.

Others principals worth mentioning in this show were Michael Cahill as Macy, Scott Hall as Shellhamer and Helen Garner as the Judge, again all these three together with the rest of the cast were able to prove themselves as fine actors and singers.

Many congratulations to everyone involved in this show and also having the convictions and faith to tackle such an intricate show as this and succeed.

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