Very jolly, very cute and very long
Nativity! The Musical
‘Sparkle and shine!” chorus the children of the fictional St Bernadette’s Catholic primary, Coventry. And my, does Debbie Isitt’s stage spin-off to her hugely successful
Nativity! film series do just that. There are lavish sets studded with flashing stars. Giant gift-parcels. OTT costumes that wouldn’t disgrace a Broadway musical. A finale that features fusillades of golden streamers. It doesn’t just seem as though Christmas has come early, but New Year too. Short of hauling on a reindeer and unleashing pyrotechnics, I’m not sure what else Isitt, who also directs, could do to glitz it up further.
Taken all in all, this is a feelgood bonanza. In celebrating the zany can-do best of our youngsters, it’s as capable, you sense, of raising national morale as rewarding fan curiosity and tapping a lucrative revenue stream. The fairytale charm of the films, though, lies in the spectacle of ordinary kids at an Ofsted-failing school overcoming adult scepticism and mishaps (many revolving around the bêtises of man-child teaching assistant Mr Poppy) to achieve a Crimbo show beyond all expectations.
By transposing everything to the theatrical big-scale, placing a premium on giving us a good time, the obvious downside is that the revelation of triumph over adversity has happened way before we get to the end of the night. Not only are you bound to experience déjà-vu (the plot of the first and best film is lifted wholesale) but on its own dramatically simple terms, a kind of repetition sets in. That said, if you can go in with a heart as generous as Santa and a mind willing to be filled with warm-your-cockles songs (Isitt and co-composer Nicky Ager are more school of Gary Barlow than of Lionel Bart), it’s hard to resist the rampant cuteness of it all (there’s even a nonplussed pooch called Cracker).
In terms of ensemble effort – with tip-top choreography from Andrew Wright – I’d award everyone 10 out of 10: the children, drawn from the locality, will be able to walk proud in the playground for ages to come. And the sight of tots flying on harnesses is enough to send a frisson of surrogate concern through any watching parent.
Andy Brady snarls for Britain as the arch-schemer Gordon Shakespeare, who runs Oakmoor prep school’s rival panto. It’s never really explained why he fell out with (or makes it up with) St Bernadette’s twinkly but testy teacher Paul Maddens (Daniel Boys). The latter has been wounded by his girlfriend Jennifer’s flight to Hollywood to seek her fortune (the attempt to woo her back, and steal a march on Oakmoor, pads the second half). As the Pied Piper to the little nippers, Simon Lipkin graduates in style from Chief Elf in Nativity 3 to the hyperactive Mr Poppy – not quite in the same class as the role’s originator Marc Wootton but keeping energy levels manically high.
A much-loved tale, then, well enough re-told, of how the show must go on. But sweet Jesus (the Scrooge in me grumbles) it doesn’t half go on.
Until Nov 12, then touring. Tickets: 0121 236 4455; nativitythemusical.com