Thursford Christmas Spectacular 2019!

Thursford Christmas Spectacular 2019!

I almost don’t know where to begin with this review? My mind’s racing this way and that not wanting to miss a thing in the exact same way I didn’t know which way to turn next while actually watching the Thursford Christmas Spectacular. I mean, I’d heard it’s breathtaking and I knew that every year coach loads of folks travel from all over the country to see this unmissable moment in festive theatre, but really I just had no idea – I guess it would be pretty hard to have a clue if you’d not ever seen the Spectacular before and trying to talk about it and explain how wonderful it is might just be beyond my capabilities you know. But I must try…

I’ll do my best but please do forgive me when you read this then go and see the show only to think ‘well, the review didn’t clearly depict just HOW good this show is’ because frankly I’m not sure there are the right words at all actually! Words, words, words… When this is such an experience for the senses the thought of reading about it rather than seeing does sort of fill me with sighs if I’m honest. This is a show to see, to hear, to touch and taste and as soon as you arrive, to be greeted with an abundance of such sheer Christmas-ness that you can actually taste this beautiful production. And that’s the way this dish ought to be served, with very little in the story telling if I’m perfectly honest! It is a feast to be enjoyed in the here and the now allowing the unreal performances to play out in real time allowing you to experience first hand how utterly brilliant it is! Perhaps a little insight could be gleaned from the trailer video but be assured, it won’t give you any of the true magic, that has to come inside the theatre!

I’d visited a few weeks ago to see a behind the scenes view of the Thursford Christmas Spectacular and having never been to see the show myself, always deeming it ‘too expensive’ and ‘too far away’ (a bit of a laugh when you consider the coaches from Harrogate, Blackpool and Chichester who arrived on Friday night to see the show alongside me) I was blown away by the vast-ness of the theatre. It appeared to be a railway platform in length and takes up the whole length of the nearly 1,500 seated theatre with a working carousel one end and a plethora of CHRISTMAS all around it. The auditorium is a Santa’s Grotto in itself (you can visit the Thursford actual grotto, ‘Santas’ magical Journey’ for just £5 with a theatre ticket or you can book to visit Santa alone on the website here) and I’d never seen anything like it!

Looking down from one end of the theatre!

With a carousel on the left hand side which is used in the Steam Museum (Thursford has a job the rest of the year too) and also in the performance!

I was totally gobsmacked at the sheer volume of everything from the costumes to the decorations and I have to admit that I did wonder if it was all smoke and mirrors for a fairly mediocre show. I was confused as to how tickets could be west end prices when we were in a field in Norfolk with surely a variety show of similar ilk to an end of the pier show. I was wrong. I don’t admit that often but I was. I came away from watching the rehearsals which as slick as they had been hadn’t entirely convinced me and I sought with myself for long and hard about whether I was going to accept the press tickets offered to me. I couldn’t imagine being able to recommend a show with tickets that cost as much as a London musical when it was just here… In little old Norwich. But everyone I spoke to where I’d say ‘but I don’t want to plug something if I wouldn’t buy tickets myself’ urged me to go and having been thoroughly taken with the costumes and wanting to see them in action in all their feathery glory, I accepted.

The costumes are beyond wonderful and now that I’ve seen the show I am angry with myself for not being more impressed with my back stage pass on the day – I want to go back and pour over them as I should have done then!

The ‘Masquerade’ segment turned out to be one of my favourite moments in the show and yet I only took quick phone snaps of the masks. I apologise, there should be more!

The costumiers try to re-use and recycle – they keep everything and the wardrobes are phenomenal. These head dresses are from the opening dance and I LOVE them!

So if I’m honest then I’ll tell you that I went in with a little bit of a closed mind and more fool me. I was thinking ah, Norfolk… Yeah so how good can this be? But then the only person with a Normal for Norfolk mentality here was me because this show… Ooh, it’s better than some of the west end productions I’ve seen and slicker than an oil leak into the sea! Everything ran like clockwork with the acoustics building to a crescendo of the most fabulous. I won’t say too much I promise, I won’t ruin it, but as variety shows go I didn’t know I was all that bothered or keen and yet this one has changed me. Three hours seemed like a marathon as I sat down in my comfortable seat and contemplated what was about to begin. At the end I wished it had gone on longer and by the time doves had been released into the audience (I kid you not) I was almost crying with the sound, the sight, the touch, the smell and even the taste of this place… And now I have the taste? Well Christmas won’t be Christmas without wanting to visit the Thursford Christmas Spectacular and all it’s awesome glory!

I must give note to the performers I enjoyed the most alongside the ensemble cast who were faultless in the singing, move perfect in the dancing and with an orchestra of modern progressiveness I wouldn’t have even imagined possible – they were stunning and deserve the most applause for they worked the hardest but the Cirqu du Soleil performers, the International double act Royer and Emelie made me gasp with their death defying stunts, acrobat and wheel specialist Billy George accompanied by the ensemble made wonderful turns to delight and Phil Kelsall, in his 39th year of playing th Mighty Wurlitzer lit the show up with something so special I wanted to jump out of my seat and clap the moment he finished his solo, and very special, set! The show was bound with Britains Got Talent finalist Steve Hewlett and his ventriloquist act which got better and better as the show went on until I almost wet myself laughing with his comedy genius and an audience member helper towards the end of the show! Fave moments were The Masquerade sequence and Christmas Dinner closely followed by… Oh all of it! LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this show – now wonder it’s been a must see for year after year and is a stalwart on the Norfolk scene calendar of events. They don’t need the publicity so I am delighted they chose me to write about them – I am the lucky one I assure you and I only wish my vocabulary, and skills as a writer were better placed to tell the story of the Thursford Christmas Spectacular in the same spectacular way its imprinted itself upon me!