Those of you who are fans of pop trivia may be interested to know that the song Mistletoe and Wine, made famous by Cliff Richard, actually had its beginnings in musical theatre. When Keith Strachan, Leslie Stewart and Jeremy Paul collaborated to turn a TV script into a musical, they decided that they needed a Christmas carol.Rather than use a traditional carol, they opted to write their own - the fruit of their labour was Mistletoe and Wine. It would be a further ten years before Richard recorded and released the song, but it is his version thathas made it one of the most successful and recognisable pieces of festive music in modern times.
Originally titled Scraps, Strachan, Stewart and Paul’s musical, The Little Match Girl, first premiered in Christmas 1977 at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond. The show has had subsequent theatrical productions, as well being adapted for television in 1987 starring Roger Daltrey and Twiggy. Compoaser Strachan has now returned to the show for the first time in over twenty years, to direct a new production at the Tabard Theatre.
Based on the Hans Christian Andersen tale of the same name, The Little Match Girl tells the story of an impoverished young girl who sells matches in the street in a pitiful attempt to make money. With her mother deceased, her sole guardian is her father Jeb (Rob Hadden), whose only interest is in collecting the little money the girl makes and cavorting with Josie (Aimee Barrett), a desirable street worker. As Jeb and Josie’s relationship deepens, he makes it clear to the little match girl (Emily Cochrane) that she is no longer welcome at home, and so she is forced to live on the streets. Now homeless, her situation becomes desperate and. as her health deteriorates, she has a series of fantasies, some pleasant and some not, about the characters she has met during her time on the street.
Although far from a perfect show, there is more to The Little Match Girl than Mistletoe and Wine. Barrett is assured as Josie and Cochrane is immensely watchable in her charming performance of the title role. We’ve Better Things To Do, a tongue in cheek song about two middle-aged Christian ladies, stands out as a memorable musical moment and is pitched perfectly by actors Kathryn Hamilton-Hall and Julia Faulkner. However, there are also several songs and performances that fail to hit the mark.
Unfortunately for The Little Match Girl, the Christmas theatre market is a crowded one. The bright lights of the West End have the ‘orphan musical’ covered, with the current production of Annie playing at the Piccadilly Theatre, and there are a plethora of pantomimes and festive productions throughout London for audiences to choose from. With competition stiff, it looks like this production will end up being left out in the cold.
People speak of Sergei Polunin with the same awe and reverence given to Rudolph Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov. He is another wunderkind of dance, one who attracts headlines for the unorthodox. He is also no stranger to performing in different media, most recently as Count Andrenyi in Kenneth Branagh's Murder on the Orient Express.