Miracle on 34th Street - The Musical (BMOS Musical Theatre Company)

One of those classic tales, a Christmas setting and a child star in the making provides a highly engaging evening for audiences as BMOS Musical Theatre Company stage the musical version of Miracle on 34th Street. Who is Kris Kringle, is he really Santa Claus or just a lonely and deluded old man. Edmund Gwenn who played the role in the original 1947 movie with Maureen O'Hara as Doris Walker, won both an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his portrayal.

Stewart Keiller is worthy of similar awards for his performance of Kris, he's likable, sincere and gels well with the rest of the cast, in particular the children. Doris Walker is played with great conviction and an exceptional singing voice by Jo Smith and the part of Fred Gaily, ex marine and budding legal attorney is presented in a highly appealing manner by Matt Collins (his on stage relationship with Willow Heath as Susan Walker, disbeliever of the whole Christmas 'thing', is a joy to behold).

What can be said about young Miss Heath, frankly this is a perfect piece of acting for one so young (Natalie Wood played the part in the movie and we know what she went on to do), the smile, the accent and her ability to match if not exceed the adult actors around her is nothing short of phenomenal, we can only hope she goes on to delight in other roles.

Providing that comedy element are Mark Walsh as Macy's toy department head Shellhammer and the boss himself , R H Macy played with comic style by John Spencer.

Michael McCulley plays a powerful cameo as DA Thomas Mara, convinced that it is simply not possible for anybody to be the real Santa Claus but, undermined by his own son Tommy (played by Conor Dodds one of many talented youngsters in this production) who reminds him that Santa is very real in their house.

Touching and emotional from beginning to end there is no doubt that Suzi Budd as Director/Choreographer has created a marvellous piece of theatre here. In fact the back stage team deserve high praise, Rob Morrison as Stage Manager for being able to transfer a complex set from scene to scene seamlessly along with Suzanne Harris and Jen Eglington for some superb costumes and the students of University College Birmingham for stylish and authentic make-up.

As is regularly the case with amateur productions there are sadly fewer performances than anybody would like and this show completes the run on Saturday 18th November 2017 so only very few performances for you to begin to feel a lot like Christmas.

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