WHITE CHRISTMAS

The Mill at Sonning

★★★★

“There is a simplicity to the evening that allows the storytelling and the inherent values of its message shine through”

The rain is falling from a dark, wintry sky and storm Darragh is rumbling away in the near distance heralding its arrival across the home counties. But down at the Mill at Sonning, tucked away in a nook by the river, one’s dreams of a White Christmas are being granted – if only for a few hours. Step over the threshold and you are indeed stepping right into the festive season. Just like the ones we used to know.

It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve seen the Crosby and Kaye movie over the years, Jonathan O’Boyle’s revival of the stage version is as fresh as it is familiar. Jason Kajdi and Connor Hughes as Bob Wallace and Phil Davies – the former WWII soldiers turned celebrity double-act – share the same infectious camaraderie as Bing and Danny, but with a more youthful, wide-eyed approach to the world around them. Their bond is a prime example of ‘opposites attract’. Hughes’ Phil cannot get enough of the fairer sex (are you allowed to use that term these days?) while Kajdi steers his character away from love like sheltering from the “unpredictable, irresponsible, unbelievable, unreliable” weather.

The plot, slim as it is, and characterisation (rich as it is) come across with clarity through the fine voices of the cast. The duo recruit sisters, Betty and Judy (Gabriella Williams and Nic Myers), into their act, sweeping the four of them into a tangled romance that forms the backbone of the comedy. They end up in Vermont, New York, at a Christmas holiday lodge run by their old Major General from the army (Mark Curry). The former general sank his life savings into the inn but has fallen on hard times as the lack of snow is keeping his customers away. Hatching a plan to save his business, and restore his self-esteem, Bob and Phil trigger a series of misunderstandings and near break-ups with the girls before realisation and reconciliation comes to the rescue. You get the idea. O’Boyle’s trim and elegant staging will give you a much better idea.

There is a simplicity to the evening that allows the storytelling and the inherent values of its message shine through. Jason Denvir’s uncluttered sets, with David Howe’s lighting are all about atmosphere. This is a show that creates moods rather than spectacle and is all the more heart-warming for these choices. As the sister act, Williams and Myers match the boys’ chemistry, exemplified in the iconic number ‘Sisters’ (also beautifully and hilariously parodied by Bob and Phil). Irving Berlin’s music and lyrics are served well by the core cast and the ensemble who handle the dynamics of the score with ease, from the razzmatazz to the intimate. An unseen seven-piece band perfectly follows – and leads – the highs and lows of Berlin’s melodies and lyricism. All the favourites are all there: ‘Happy Holiday’, Love and the Weather’, ‘The Best Things Happen When You’re Dancing’, ‘I Love a Piano’… and so on. A star turn by Shirley Jameson as Martha, the holiday inn’s housekeeper, lifts her solo number ‘Falling Out of Love Can Be Fun’ into one of the highlights.

The production is in no rush, and the first act shows tentative signs of outstaying its welcome. However, we are in no rush at all for the evening to reach its sugar-coated but deliciously festive and heart-warming finale. We are too busy being drawn into the comfort and joy of the performances. There are no surprises. We know exactly what’s beneath the wrapping. But it is all we could have wished for. It may still be raining outside, but inside the Mill at Sonning it is snowing. Our dreams of a White Christmas have come true indeed. The show is a dream.

WHITE CHRISTMAS at The Mill at Sonning

Reviewed on 6th December 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Pamela Raith

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RIDE at the Southwark Playhouse

★★★

“skilfully and beautifully performed under Sarah Meadows’ flamboyant direction”

If you keep going North, you will eventually go South. If you keep going West, however, you will never go East. That is a reality. But like many realities, it wasn’t to stand in the way of Annie Londonderry, the first woman to bicycle around the world – albeit mostly by ship. A pioneer, pragmatist, opportunist and somewhat unreliable storyteller, Londonderry had a casual relationship with the truth. This is the thread that runs through “Ride”, the musical by Freya Catrin Smith and Jack Williams. Adopting the format of a pitch in which Annie is trying to sell her story to an offstage panel of senior (and presumably male) newspaper editors, it veers into a more introspective journey of self-reinvention.

Dubiously and rather loftily described as ‘the greatest story ever told’, it was nevertheless declared by the ‘New York World’ in 1895 as the most extraordinary journey ever undertaken by a woman. Annie’s version of events is a fascinating tale, particularly in its time. Beyond the headlines, Londonderry was really Annie Cohen Kopchovsky, a young, Jewish mother of three small children. She abandoned her role of wife and mother to pedal away into history, earning her way through self-promotion, selling photographs and becoming a kind of mobile billboard. The name ‘Londonderry’ came from the first of several corporate sponsors of her journey.

The show touches on the darkness and complexity of Londonderry’s character and motivations, but for the most part follows the ‘triumph over adversity’ narrative. Liv Andrusier, as Annie, bears the bulk of the story. From the off, a commanding and cocksure presence, Andrusier renders a not particularly likeable character loveable. A mixture of self-confident cynicism and self-aware charm, she is captivating throughout, but truly soars when she sings. Andrusier has the presence to carry the show singlehandedly, but her character enlists the aid of Martha, a secretary at the newspaper. A reluctant aid at first, Martha soon gets into the swing of things, shedding her own awkwardness as she adopts the various characters of Londonderry’s story. Katy Ellis manages the role with expert precision, a sharp eye for comedy, and a voice of her own too that gradually steals a greater piece of the action. To the point of temporarily taking over when Annie grinds to a halt under the weight of her own back story. “Why are you so ashamed of who you are?” Martha asks at one point, underlying the hidden agenda that shapes Annie’s fierce motivation.

The motivation, though, is never that clear cut and sometimes the complexity comes across as confusion, and the intricacies of Annie’s identity – her Jewishness and bisexuality – are glossed over. This is a show that relies on its performances, which are undeniably faultless and fascinating. The three-piece band, led by Musical Director Sam Young, adds drive, but the compositions never really change gear. The cycle ride took fifteen months and covered numerous and varied terrains, the ups and downs of which are not fully reflected in the score.

Ninety minutes is admittedly a short time in which to depict an epic chapter in a colourful life. It is skilfully and beautifully performed under Sarah Meadows’ flamboyant direction. That is the reality, but as Annie repeatedly pronounces ‘it’s not about reality; it’s about the story’. The story comes across as an incomplete journey, and we are also left suspecting that the real Annie might have been more interesting than the one she fabricated. At any rate, we are left wanting to know more. Andrusier and Ellis, in tandem, make sure of that. Their presence alone is worth the ride.

WHITE CHRISTMAS

The Mill at Sonning

★★★★

“There is a simplicity to the evening that allows the storytelling and the inherent values of its message shine through”

WHITE CHRISTMAS at The Mill at Sonning

Reviewed on 6th December 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Pamela Raith

Previously reviewed at this venue:

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RIDE at the Southwark Playhouse

★★★

“skilfully and beautifully performed under Sarah Meadows’ flamboyant direction”

Reviewed on 24th July 2023

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Danny Kaan

Previously reviewed at this venue: