Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen is one of the most iconic shows for families during the festive season, and although we are still in November, this show got me fully in the festive spirit. Having followed the journey of the Birmingham Ormiston Academy (BOA) Ensemble and the costume, set and lighting design teams for weeks now, it was wonderful to see it all come together in a magical show perfect for all the family. From my interviews with these various departments I learned exactly what goes into making a Christmas show such as this (these interviews can be found on the Birmingham Local TV website, Facebook and Twitter pages), and I must commend the Old Rep for creating a brilliant show on a very modest budget.
In this 1980s style production, the music and costume were reminiscent of a David Bowie music video. The Snow Queen hurtles across the stage on her glowing motorbike, and stomps around in her dramatic silver outfit looking like a human icicle. Amy Carroll has done a wonderful job of bringing this iconic decade to life onstage and the Snow Queen’s glowing cape was definitely a highlight for me! Christina Harris as Gerda was a stand-out performance, believably innocent, genuine and loving, and her character’s unwavering devotion to her best friend was heart-warming – even for the adults in the room.
The children in the audience appeared to love the show, laughing, shouting and being shocked at all the right moments: proof that this show has achieved what it set out to do which was to entertain and amaze the children of the West Midlands. What’s more, Charlie Keable as Hader and Tom Sturgess as Crow also deserve a mention, as these two talented performers added just the right amount of light-hearted humour to the piece, making the children erupt into fits of laughter and getting them to clap and shout out to the characters onstage. The BOA Ensemble did themselves proud, multi-roling and even going into the audience at one point to scare the children. Despite some clumsily performed mirror choreography, the Ensemble added a sense of splendour to the piece and supported the main characters effortlessly. Congratulations to the Old Rep and to BOA for a fantastically festive, fun-filled family show!
Aurora Speaking 