The Magic of Christmas
A warm welcome at the door is followed by full immersion into Christmas in the auditorium at Brick Lane Music Hall - established in a former church in the heart of docklands, London.
The building is highly decorated for the festive season as is the majority of the audience on their Tinsel and Turkey coach trips. Groups are seated in anticipation of Christmas lunch ready to be served. The piped music surrounding us is well and truly in the music hall style with many of the audience fighting the urges of their cockney roots to sing along. Even if now it seems to come with a predominantly Essex twang!
The tasty three course meal is served in a well-rehearsed and choreographed routine. All of this gets us ready for the main event - the, post-dinner, stage show.
Vincent Hayes and Andrew Robley work hard to warm up the room who need a fair bit of coaxing in their post-lunch coma. Wheeling out the “high-ho-silver lining defibrillator” seems to do the trick! And we are off! Yes the magic of Christmas seems to be that we can all sing along to anything.
In the tradition of variety we are treated to instrumentalists. Victoria Yellop, a formerly violinist to the royal family no less, shows her dexterity, playing the violin, complete with vocals and choreo.
The company has mastered some complex Christmas arrangements (by Musical Director Scott Hayes). The exposed vocals reveal some impressive musicality in the company. The juxtaposition of some of the comic numbers is quite ridiculous… but the singing company featuring Lucy Reed, Jake Lawrence, Charlotte Fage, Samantha McNeil, and Joe Payne drag us back to the sublime.
After a trip to Cowboy Christmas the whole extravaganza culminates with a trip to the movies. Giving us a wonderful excuse to celebrate musicals and of course a Christmas movie! Throughout there’s no scrimping on costumes or indeed talent.
As a piece of community theatre, if anything let the show down it was probably the audience! So if you are in a party mood and need an excuse to get your Christmas glad rags on - Brick Lane offers you a real gift.
This show was reviewed on the 28th November at Brick Lane Music Hall, London where it runs until the 19th December 2025. Tickets available here : Brick Lane Music Hall - London Theatre
Review written by Paul Wood
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Photo credit: Lucy Hayes
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