Boom! Boom! Its Christmas Again

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without music and nothing reminds you of a great night out at a show as much as listening to the soundtrack. Get your auntie singing along as she helps with the washing up with the help of…

  • Back To The Future The Musical, classic songs from the movie plus new music by multi-Grammy Award-winners Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard (Sony Music’s Masterworks Broadway label).
  • Orphans, a darkly comic new Scottish musical set in the streets of Glasgow from the National Theatre of Scotland with music and lyrics by Roddy Hart and Tommy Reilly (available digitally).
  • A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet was the first new musical to première in New York after the pandemic shutdown; it has book, music, and lyrics by Alex Wyse and Ben Fankhauser and a storyline that proves "making a hit song can be a shit-show".
  • My Son’s A Queer (But What Can You Do?) the award-winning autobiographical show from Rob Madge that you may have heard played Turbine Theatre and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this year.
  • Get Up Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical is the original cast recording of the West End production that runs until January 2023, starring Olivier Award nominee Arinzé Kene.
  • The Marathon Project is a collaboration between musical theatre companies and artists including Spitlip, The Letter Room, Sheep Soup & Burnt Lemon Theatre; it started as an artistic lifeline in lockdown and culminates in this recording of their 26-track story based on the shambolic 1904 Olympic Marathon beset by chaotic leadership—I wonder what made them think of that...

And finally some miscellany…

  • A new magazine called Musicals launched at the inaugural Musical Con in October, but will not start publication (bi-monthly) until April, although the launch edition is available until January.
  • For the young (aged 7–14) and young at heart who like to make their down drama, there is a The Musical Theatre Box, which offers expert advice and practical kit for creating your own entertainments.
  • It is always worth considering a subscription to one of the many online services providing filmed theatre productions, which are often of extremely high quality and have a wide range of productions to choose from.
  • “Boom! Boom! It's Christmas Again” gets a mention here as Basil Brush and friends from the world of children’s entertainment are donating the proceeds from the recording to charities Save The Children and Shooting Star Chase children’s hospice. The Christmas spirit is alive and well…

So, that is the end of the lists for this year. If you have read this far I sincerely thank you for your patience and endurance.

I close as I always seem to end with a plea to support live theatre in any way you can. A true theatre-lover can't get enough of the real thing and tickets and theatre ticket vouchers always get used, and ‘friends of’ schemes can offer interesting benefits. If this is your time of the year to make charitable donations, I feel very confident that you will make wiser choices than Arts Council England, and encourage you to support the performing arts, scaled down obviously.

To everyone from Balls Cross to Twatt, my festive good wishes to you all, and may 2023 bring you wonderful theatre.

For information about socially-distanced, captioned, signed and relaxed performances and age suitability, please see the show or venue web site.

My colleagues at British Theatre Guide have also posted information about shows in their region with significantly more gravitas than can be found in this piece, and we are privileged to have Mr Panto himself, Simon Sladen, on the team too. Do please refer to their news pieces and features, and the BTG listings for a more comprehensive selection of shows on near where you are.