It’s showtime
Everyone’s streaming of a white Christmas, this year. MARION MCMULLEN looks at top shows to enjoy online... or even on your doorstep
IF YOU are missing your fix of live performance this season because of venues being closed due to the pandemic, you can enjoy celebrity-packed shows at home over the holidays, with a host of seasonal streaming specials.
■ THE National Theatre’s production of Dick Whittington is being offered free to stream over Christmas. Oh, yes, it is.
The panto special will be available on the company’s Youtube channel from December 23 until midnight on December 27 and will be offering the “cheekiest of jokes, the chattiest of animals and the messiest of silliness”.
Go to nationaltheatre.org.uk for details
BRIAN CONLEY, right, and the cast of A Christmas Carol – The Musical, Simon Callow, inset, Dame Maureen Lipman, Jodie Prenger, Lee Mead and Strictly’s Kevin Clifton are among those taking part in We Need A Little Christmas in support of Shelter and Crisis At Christmas.
Filmed at the Actors’ Church in London’s Covent Garden, Denise Welch, right, hosts the filmed concert which will be streaming until January 1. Go to Stream.theatre
THE Holiday Special Episode will be dropping on The Theatre Channel on December 23 and sees a host of festive songs from top West End performers.
Matt Croke, from Disney’s Aladdin, and Dreamgirls performer Tosh Wanogho-maud will be singing a duet version of a new arrangement of Happy Holidays and Let’s Start The New Year Right, from Holiday Inn, while Olivier Award winner Cassidy Janson, of &Juliet, will be singing White Christmas. Graduates from the Artsed class of 2020 will be singing Seasons Of Love from Rent.
Producer Adam Blanshay says: “The Holiday episode will exist as a timeless anthem of reflection and hope that will brighten the spirit, no matter the season or time of year.” Ticket details from thetheatrecafe.co.uk
BASIL Brush and Christopher Biggins have been bringing the festive season to care home residents as part of charity project the Smiling Sessions. The virtual singalongs also see Basil dressed as Santa as they both perform Christmas songs. See smilingsessions. com for details
SANDI TOKSVIG, inset, will also be spreading some festive cheer with the online film premiere of Christmas at the (Snow)
Globe from December 21. The Globe is also offering the film free to all UK care homes and children’s hospitals. See shakespearesglobe.com
SIR KENNETH BRANAGH, right, and Olivia Colman lead an all-star audio adaptation of Peter
Pan in in support of
Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s
Charity. The world premiere audio adaptation also features the vocal talents of Jane Horrocks and Jason Flemyng and will be available from Sunday on itunes. Go to listentopeterpan .com for details
VIRTUAL Concerts is offering André Rieu’s Magical Maastricht available to stream online between December 29 and January 3. The event features 150 minutes of highlights from his previous world famous Vrijthof concerts, and includes popular classics, songs from opera, films and musicals, and some very special guests. He says: “I’ve always said music brings people together and I’m so happy we can spend a few hours together this Christmas and rejoice in music.”
Book concert tickets from andrerieu.com
ALL I Want For Christmas Is Theatre features more than 40 top UK theatre stars including a dozen Olivier award winners and nominees.
The special is described as a love letter to the tradition of seeing theatre with those you love during the holiday season. The production can be seen on December 21 and will be streaming until the end of the month.
For tickets go to thespie.com
NEW York’s famous Metropolitan Opera is offering a packed Christmas programme including Humperdinck’s Hansel And Gretel on Christmas Day. Soprano singers Angel Blue and Pretty Yende are among those taking part in Met Stars Live in Concert: New Year’s Eve Gala from the Parktheater Germany. Booking details from metopera.org
■ MATTHEW KELLY and David Yelland, right, can be seen in a filmed performed of Alan Bennett’s The Habit Of Art.
The Original Theatre Company’s planned tour was shut down before it opened because of the pandemic. The company was in rehearsals at the time and decided to film the whole production directed by Philip Franks.
There is also documentary Home Made, which tells the story of how the company responded to the closure of theatres.
The Habit Of Art can be seen until February 28 via originaltheatre online.com
IF YOU are are craving something really live this Christmas, Doorstep Productions allows you to give the gift of a West End performance on the street where that someone special lives.
The venture, by actors Maria Friedman and Adrian Der Gregorian, brings West End performers to people’s gardens, doorsteps, or drives and sees them perform in costume. Candles, lanterns and song sheets, are provided for those who want to join in and sing the Christmas Carol Edition together.
Maria says: “I felt it was important to get members of my profession up, out and doing what they do best: touching people’s hearts, singing at the top of their voices, dancing, entertaining and making people feel loved and alive, reminding them they are worthwhile and along the way help them pay a few bills.”
See doorstepproductions.com