The opening bars of Pure Imagination from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory set the magical tone for what promises to be two and half hours of the best of musical theatre numbers, together with the very best Christmas songs, both past and present. This annual festive offering from The Rattonians is always tremendously popular and, as Alex Adams takes the stage as Willy Wonka, and displays his superb singing voice, it’s very easy to see why.
The ultra-violet lit dance display that accompanies the first song emphasises the fantastically high standards that audiences have come to expect from this group and those high benchmarks are upheld throughout the show and, from hit song to hit song, the audience show their enthusiasm with rapturous applause.
The occasional curveball is there, with some less well known tunes in amongst their more popular cousins with Just Arrived from Copacabana, Practically Perfect from the stage version of Mary Poppins and Just So from the musical of the same name by Anthony Drewe and George Stiles written in 1984 and based on the Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling being perfect examples.
The intricate choreography in Down and Out from Bugsy Malone, Step in Time from Mary Poppins (again the stage and not film version) and Too Darn Hot from Kiss Me Kate comes courtesy of some very hard work by Jan Lynton with assistance from Debbie Hackett, Laura Sivers, Claire Walker and, as if he hasn’t got enough to do with performing, by Alex Adams as well.
The Broadway finale medley leads us very neatly into the interval, during which the stage is reset with a massive Christmas tree and, as the curtain reopens, the cast are in their best formal party attire and swaying gently to the sound of The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, performed by Grant Martins.
Martins returns a couple of numbers later to show us his brilliant comedic ability in the quintessentially charming, Baby It’s Cold Outside as he, together with Gareth Brighton, vie for the attentions of Chloe Shearer – only to end up locking lips with each other!
Megan Clarke, having stunned the audience with her superb performance of Castle on a Cloud from Les Miserables in Act One, returns to blast out Walking in the Air from The Snowman and displays a confidence and vocal power much greater than her years. She is followed by the Full Company who perform the Band Aid classic, Do They Know It’s Christmas, a song that, like the Rattonians themselves, celebrates its 30th Anniversary in 2014.
The Rattonians Youth Group crank up the “cute factor” to maximum with their combination of Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer before the ladies of the group take centre stage, and reveal as much as they can, in the very sultry, Santa Baby.
The finale features a whole host of the most popular Christmas songs and, just in case anyone is still not feeling totally festive, half a dozen human Reindeer pull Santa and his Sleigh to centre stage as snow falls all around.
This show is an excellent combination of West End wonders and Christmas favourites which, with less than three weeks to go until that special day, provides the perfect springboard into the festive season.
***** Five Stars