The Snowman 2019!

The Snowman at Sadlers Wells is back for 2019 and just as darling as ever. We’ve been every year since Florence was about 5 years old and I have to say now that the season just simply wouldn’t be the same without it. The Snowman by the Birmingham Repertory Theatre is quite unlike any other children’s theatre that we have ever seen offering a sophistication in the genre of ballet, yet somehow managing to translate for the stage a spectacle with sensory enjoyment for even the tiniest of children. It is a show, a ballet, a story we all know and love, a production for everyone, regardless of age or agenda. And we are head over heels in love with it.

Yesterday saw the opening of the show for the 2019 season in London’s west end and I took my family along to the press showing where once again we got to enjoy the beautiful tale of the boy who builds his snowman best friend before embarking upon the journey of a lifetime with him. Having seen the show many times before I felt able to steal a glance in the direction of friends who were watching for the first time and seeing Cookie from That’s the way the Cookie Crumbles face as it lit up, broke down and gasped in awe was wonderful. This show is not just for children, it really is for all!

So we all know the story, you’d have to have been under a rock to have let this one slip you by and last year The Snowman book by Raymond Briggs, an entirely wordless children’s story, illustrated with pencil crayon, turned 40 years old. In 1982 it was turned into an animation with the now synonymous ‘Walking In The Air’ song performed for the animated film by Aled Jones as the soundtrack. And the stage adaption has been playing out every Christmas for 25 years. In the origianl tale the boy and The Snowman didn’t visit Father Christmas and the author was against this addition but he has since said it was the right thing to do, anything with Christmas in it sells far better than without and actually, I think we can all be grateful that he agreed. This show is SO Christmassy and festive it would be hard to imagine the seasonal theatre scene of London without it and Father Christmas was a fabulous addition for us as a viewer.

The dancing, the performance… Even the fruit in the fruit bowl padding to the tale (if you know, you know and you’ll understand the importance of coconuts and bananas and pineapples) make this experience once which is to be remembered.

Little eyes and big eyes, all just staring and listening and loving. This is a treat on the stage, a gift and a wonder and even though we have seen it before the snow at the end offers an extra slice of magic that needs to be experienced. I don’t think you need to love ballet or even theatre in general to fall in love with this adaption, you just need to have a little Christmas heart and if you don’t have any then go anyway for you’ll be sure to leave the Peackock Theatre (a short walk from Holborn station) with it in abundance!

The Snowman at Sadlers Wells by the Birmingham Repertory is playing at The Peacock Theatre from the 21st of November 2019 until the 5th of January 2020. Tickets start at £120 for a family of four (at least one adult per party) and can be booked through the Sadlers Wells box office (members will receive a 20% discount).

Do catch other reviews from Cookie and Liska on their sites too!

We were gifted tickets to The Snowman as guests of the theatre.