Musical Snow! Pulled Off at Weekend, Journey EndsDate: 5 December 2005
The Sound Theatre has pulled the plug on its alternative Christmas show, Snow! The Musical, just a week after its press performance. Opened on 18 November (previews from 15 November), the musical comedy had been booking at the new Leicester Square venue until 7 January 2006, but it had its last performance this past Saturday, 3 December 2005.
In Snow!, Father Christmas has gone rogue and is hell-bent on making it Christmas every day. FC throws Nick, the delivery elf, from the stealth sleigh in his pursuit of world domination. When Nick falls to earth, he meets up with star-crossed lovers Jilly and Jack, Lizzie, and their miserable parents. No one believes in Christmas any more, which means that Nick’s quest to save the world from FC’s fanatical plan must be doomed. Or is it?
The musical has myriad pop connections. Written by Richard Marsh, it featured numerous Christmas chart toppers as well as new songs by Pink Floyd’s Guy Pratt, with music arranged by Paul Tarry and Darren Reeves of Bjorn Again. Making her stage debut, former S Club 7 pop star Hannah Spearitt headlined the cast, that also included Victoria Bush, Bennet Andrews, Adrian Beaumont, Anthony Clegg, Laura Checkly, Louise Davidson and Daniel Reeves. Adam Speers directed.
According to promotional material, Snow! was “a show that will run and run - a cult classic in the making.” No further productions have yet been announced for the Sound Theatre, though programming is expected to resume in the new year.
Just launched in June (See News, 25 May 2005), the 200-seat Sound Theatre, a studio space converted from a former nightclub, is dedicated to presenting commercial new writing and giving a voice to new acting, directing and writing talent, offering affordable tickets at only £15 (£10 concessions) for every theatre production.
Meanwhile, at the West End’s New Ambassadors Theatre, the 75th anniversary revival of RC Sheriff's classic First World War play Journey's End will now finish its oft-extended, multi-venue season on 28 January 2006.
The production first opened at the West End’s Comedy Theatre on 21 January 2004 (previews from 15 January), 75 years (to the day) since its first West End season at the Savoy Theatre (See News, 12 Dec 2003). It transferred to the Playhouse Theatre in May 2004 and then, in October 2004, moved on to the Duke of York’s, where it finished on 19 February. The production then resumed performances on 14 September 2005 at the New Ambassadors (its fourth West End home), where it was initially booking until 7 January 2006.
Based on the author's own experience in the trenches of the First World War, Journey's End follows a group of officers, positioned behind British lines at St Quentin, France, and awaiting their fate. David Grindley directs the production which is designed by Jonathan Fensom and presented by Background Productions.
- by Terri Paddock
