Ad disclosure: We were given press tickets to this show free of charge for the purpose of this post.
On Wednesday evening, we went into the City Centre to go and see live stage show of The Snowman which is currently on at the REP theatre in Birmingham. We were invited along to review the show and had a really lovely evening.
The Snowman theatre production was created at The REP in 1993, and has additional music by Howard Blake, which he originally wrote backstage. The show is a fantastic adaptation of the original book – and of course the classic animation, which was first shown on television in 1982 and has screened every Christmas since. Just like the original adaptation, the show has no spoken words, and everything is charmingly conveyed through the beautiful music and visuals.
All of the best bits of the original animation are faithfully brought to life in this stage animation, complete with a motorcycle ride around the stage, scattering animals left and right, and the snowman curiously exploring the house and having a cool down in the freezer. It is funny, entertaining, and simply magical.
The story and characters are utterly endearing, and I found parts of the show actually quite emotional – my eyes may have even leaked a bit at the end when The Boy comes out and finds that the Snowman has melted away – it is so achingly sad (I don’t think I need to apologise for spoilers on this one – the animation is older than me and if you haven’t seen it where have you been?!).
There is a lot of dancing in the show, with some particularly wonderful ballet dancing by Tomoyo Tanimoto Jequier the Ice Princess. A new version of Walking in Air is used in show, with Aled Jones dueting with his younger self in a new arrangement by Howard Blake. Although the vocals are recorded, all the music for the show is played live, and there is something so enjoyable about live music coming up from the orchestra pit at the theatre.
We all really enjoyed the show – Lydia was literally on the edge of her seat, and both girls laughed, clapped, grinned and “wow”ed their way through the whole thing.
I “interviewed” the girls about the show on the way home, here is what they had to say…
What did you think?
- Georgie: It was cool!
- Lydia: Good!
What was your favourite bit?
- Georgie: My favouritest part was when they were flying.
- Lydia: My favourite part was when the snowmen were dancing with the ballerina, and the little boy, and Santa!
Who was your favourite person?
- Georgie: I liked The Boy.
- Lydia: My favourite person was the Ballerina.
Were any bits sad at all?
- Georgie: The Ballerina was sad when the Snowman flew away.
- Lydia: The Boy was upset because the Snowman melted.
As you can probably tell they were definitely paying attention! They loved the flying segments in particular, and all the dancing. They are also fans of the programme – which is family friendly with pages of activities like dot-to-dot and word puzzles for them to enjoy. They spent the interval of the show spotting differences.
The show is around 1 hr 50 min long, including a 20 minute interval, and tickets start at £15. The Snowman is on until Sunday 15th of January, and there are still a few tickets left so make sure you check it out if you are looking for something magical to do this weekend.
