White Christmas

During the Christmas season and beyond, pantomimes will be staged by many am-dram societies but  BOS Musical Theatre Group opted to perform something different for their seasonal offering – they chose the stage version of “White Christmas”, a musical based on the well-known 1954 film of the same name, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. Tickets for the show were a real bargain for the show contained magnificent music, superb singing, fine acting, lots of laughs and scintillating choreography. What more could you ask for to get you in the mood for Christmas?  This production was very well cast with Rob Callaby (as Bob Wallace) and Christian Slingsby (as Phil Davis) ideally paired in terms of temperament and talent, Andrea Townshend and Lucy Allen were great as Betty and Judy Haynes, with Kim Sands well into the character as Martha Watson. Ray Featherby was making his acting debut as General Henry Waverly and acquitted himself well; I’m sure we will be seeing more of him in the future. At the other end of the age range was Alice Parkin (as young Susan Waverly) displaying a very confident and natural stage presence. Abi Kingsley-Parker’s innovatively choreographed routines covered a wide range of dance genres that were greatly appreciated by the audience, especially the fast Tap in which the dancers demonstrated their amazing skills. Illuminated by a clever lighting plan, the well designed and constructed sets were shown at their best. The appropriate and colourful costumes were organised by Katy Tabor who was prevented from actively joining her colleagues on stage having recently undergone surgery. There is so much to enjoy in this show but for many people it is Irving Berlin’s endearing music and lyrics that have the most appeal and the competent musicians, under the direction of the of the very experienced  Anthony Grunwell delivered superb musical accompaniments.  If Christmas brings you as much joy as that experienced by those in the audiences for this show then you will undoubtedly have a “Happy Christmas”!

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