Miracle on 34th Street is one of the most iconic Christmas films. The original film was adapted into a stage musical long before it was remade with Richard Attenborough and Matilda (I mean, Mara Wilson!). The musical – originally called Here’s Love then It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas and now Miracle on 34th Street – has not had the same success onstage as other Christmas musicals, such as Elf and White Christmas, but HOME were hoping for a Christmas miracle – which sadly did not manifest.
Meredith Willson has played around with the original story, which revolves around a department store and a man hired to play Santa who claims to actually be Santa. In the stage musical, that story is a story within a story, with the external story (the “real” story) revolving around an independent toy store which is set to be demolished just before Christmas.
In HOME’s production, the “real” story is set in the UK whilst the “fictional” story is set in the US. Setting the “real” story in the UK, with a Mancunian leading lady, might be an attempt to make the story more relatable for a Mancunian audience (as if Christmas is not already universally relatable). Setting the “fictional” story in the US – specifically, NYC – could be to stay true to the film or an attempt to turn the “fictional” story into a Hollywood-esque fairy tale.
Alternatively, it might just be a strategic attempt to make the two stories more distinct so that audiences know which world we are in. Indeed, without the different accents, I would have been even more confused. The show transports back and forth between the two worlds, with a young girl in each world, both played by the same actress.
It’s a clumsy framing device that is, ultimately, unnecessary. Just tell the story everybody knows and loves. Relocate it to the UK if you want. Replace Macy’s with Harrods in London or a fictional store (as in the newer film) in Manchester.
The musical begins strong. The stage is cloaked in black except for an aged red door in the centre. It’s strangely ominous and, ironically, reminded me of the iconic red door in Insidious. It did not feel very festive but that’s the point: this is the door to the toy shop that has been forced shut.
When the little girl, Susan – played on press night by Karis Musongole (who plays Young Elphaba in the Wicked film!) – enters the door and walks into the toy shop, the door is transported off stage and the black screen lifts, revealing a huge wooden arch, filling the stage, and itself filled with a glorious selection of toys that could make a 95-year-old feel 5 again. In this moment, the audience live vicariously through Susan.
Then, suddenly, we’re in New York and everyone is American. I began to question my sanity. Had the actors been speaking with American accents all along? Was the little girl slipping in and out of an American accent? Am I losing my mind?
The cast are strong but a fantastic actor can only do so much with a mediocre script (just look at half of Johnny Depp’s filmography). Presumably because the actors are playing characters in a children’s story (I’m talking about the “fictional” story now – gosh, this is confusing), they have been directed to over-act, to become caricatures. This sometimes works but other times it’s just annoying.
Adam Vaughan is loveably as Kris Kringle – Santa? – but he’s far younger than the actors who have portrayed him previously (such as the late great Richrd Attenborough, who was so old that he was old when my parents were young!). De-aging him makes him ordinary; it becomes less believable that he could be Santa, and thus he appears, as the other characters insist, mad!
Jessica Joslin, though a fine performer, has been instructed to be rigid and wooden as Doris, Susan’s mother, who does not soften and is thus difficult to warm to. I love an unlikeable character – ironic, I know – but it’s hard to care for a woman who does not let her daughter believe in Santa Claus because it makes children “think of life as a fantasy rather than a reality,” which is just ridiculous.
There’s a missed opportunity here in which her background (trauma) could have been explored better, like how we come to learn how Scrooge is the way that s/he is, and why s/he hates Christmas, in A Christmas Carol (which I reviewed at The Lowry the following evening). Without much of an explanation, Doris just seems like a miserable matron allergic to fun. They could have just made her Jehovah’s Witness!
The script is cheesy and saccharine, and the songs mostly sound the same. Even ‘It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas’ – a Meredith Willson song, which he incorporated into the musical – fails to delight the audience, especially because it is chopped up and sung in counterpoint with the monotonous ‘Pine Cones and Holly Berries.
‘My State’ (performed passionately by the enigmatic ensemble member, Zweyla Mitchell Dos Santos, as a gender-swapped Judge Harper) is the standout number. It’s a visual and aural delight. This number – originally just as much a snoozefest as every other song – has had new life breathed into it by the creative team, with jazz and glitter.
The majesty of this number tragically reveals that this new production had real potential. Too often, performers just stand there and sing. Perhaps the creatives wanted ‘My State’ to be a fun contrast to the soppy songs, but that’s the issue.
Whilst ‘My State’ is marvellous, the court scene, as a whole, drags. It’s basically the entire second act because everything else happened in the first. It’s funny – with lots of jokes, twists, turns, and a courtroom consisting of toy furniture, highlighting the lunacy of the trail (a literal show trial) – but it goes on and on and on. When it finally ends, we’re then back in the real world to complete that story.
The musical, as a whole, is way longer than it needs to be, with an overstuffed first act that runs almost 90 minutes. The entire show could be 90 minutes without an interval – wrapped and tied up nicely with a bow – but the action is needlessly dragged out. It begins to look a lot like Christmas and it never stops!
Miracle on 34th Street is a sweet show with strong performers (Karis Musongole is surely going places) and some lovely design elements. It will, no doubt, put a smile on children’s faces – but the long running time and repetitiveness might just put them to sleep.
It’s not the best Christmas show on offer but it’s certainly not the worst (keep Elf on the shelf!).
Miracle on 34th Street runs at HOME (Theatre 1) until December 31.
Photo: © Chris Payne
JADAR 