★★★★

“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.

HELLO, DOLLY! at the London Palladium

★★★★

“Nothing seems out of place in Dominic Cooke’s staging of this revival”

By interval, while slowly making my way through the bottleneck towards the bar, I’m feeling a bit like the child from ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ folk tale. Only the joke is on me, apparently, rather than the other way round. It takes the second act to make me realise this, and my puzzled expression turns to one of realisation, all the while a smile reluctantly spreading across my face. The belated appreciation is inadvertently symptomatic of a musical that is, after all, fundamentally about second chances.

You have to ignore the flimsy plot to get to its heart. On the surface the story follows the celebrated matchmaker, Dolly Levi, as she travels to Yonkers, New York, to find a match for the miserly half-millionaire Horace Vandergelder. It soon becomes clear, though, that Dolly intends to marry Horace herself. We think it’s all about the money, but as the twists unravel, we discover the true threads of the tale. Love is in the air, ultimately, conquering feelings of grief and bereavement as it sweeps through the auditorium in waves of feelgood farce. In the title role, Imelda Staunton gives a fantastically understated performance as she slowly lets go of her late husband’s ghost to find her way back to where she belongs.

Based on Thornton Wilder’s 1930s ‘The Matchmaker’, it premiered in 1963; so there is always the danger that today’s audiences will find it outdated and out of style. Yet it conveys a bygone age that we are willing to be transported back to. Escapism is the key. Rae Smith’s sumptuous sets mix turn of the century realism with animated backdrops; rickety trolleybuses and sandstone buildings with blue skies – into which, at one point, a full-size steam train billows out clouds of steam. Smith’s costumes match the opulence of the production, particularly during the signature scene in which Dolly descends the famous staircase of the Harmonia Gardens restaurant. The title number of ‘Hello Dolly’ builds slowly towards its ovation-grabbing finale. Dancing waiters and chefs epitomise Bill Deamer’s extravagant and flawless choreography. Nothing seems out of place in Dominic Cooke’s staging of this revival, except for a few lines of Michael Stewart’s book. Yet the execution is faultless, and Jerry Herman’s music and lyrics are given full flight, buoyed up by the twenty strong orchestra down in the pit.

Staunton, to her credit, never steals the show in what is pretty much an ensemble piece (that also boasts one of the largest ensembles in London – it has more swings than a holiday camp playground). Andy Nyman’s Horace Vandergelder is a gently mocking Scrooge, extending his derision to himself as much as anyone else. His rebellious employees, Cornelius Hackl and Barnaby Tucker (respectively Harry Hepple and the underused Tyrone Huntley) make a fine comedy double act that borders on cliché but thankfully just stops short. The other star turn comes courtesy of Jenna Russell’s Irene Molloy, the milliner who craves to swap her hat shop for a love nest yet is more than twice shy having been bitten by grief too many times.

The songs are not so much old fashioned as old school. Refreshingly nostalgic and timeless. Russell delivers one of the highlights; ‘Ribbons Down My Back’ with an aching hunger while some of the other rousing numbers fill us with joy. Staunton, of course, makes ‘Hello Dolly’ (the song and the show) her own, betraying a unique sense of self-doubt within her layered character. She likes to be in control of everybody’s lives, including her own, but her femininity is never victim to her feminism. There is strength and vulnerability. But also a glorious sense of fun. “It’s no use arguing – I have made up your mind” Dolly says to the redemptive Vandergelder.

There is no arguing with the success of this show either, or the ovation it received. Admittedly the first act drifts a bit, but by curtain call it is well and truly ‘back where it belongs’.

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:

KeyPhrase

KeyPhrase

HELLO, DOLLY! at the London Palladium

★★★★

“Nothing seems out of place in Dominic Cooke’s staging of this revival”

HELLO, DOLLY! at the London Palladium

Reviewed on 18th July 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Manuel Harlan

More reviews from Jonathan:

HELLO, DOLLY!

HELLO, DOLLY!