You’re in New York for only 2 days for your Dad’s wedding, who you’ve never met, and it’s Christmas…..what on earth is going to happen……? Classic Christmas rom-com material….as a musical.
Pessimistic New Yorker Robin (Tori Allen-Martin) collects enthusiastically British Dougal (Alex Cardall) from the airport and has every intention of completing the task quickly so she can get back to avoiding Christmas as much as possible. It’s Dougal’s first time in NY, he loves Christmas and he can’t wait to explore as much as he can before the wedding where he gets to meet his father for the first time, something he’s been dreaming of since he was a boy. Robin’s sister is marrying Dougal’s father.
Robin needs to go across town to collect and deliver the 4-tier wedding cake and go shopping for her sister…Robin is given the husband-to-be’s credit card and Dougal tags along for the ride…..what on earth is going to happen…..?
It’s fun, it’s light, it’s entreating as these two counterparts spend 36 hours together bonding over the task at hand and the forthcoming wedding. There are a few too many spoilers and I am not going to give them away, however I can promise there are smiles and laughter and sadness as both characters open up with their vulnerabilities.
The musical aspect really added a lovely dimension, it added a level of comedy and sadness in the right moments. There are 17 songs and all executed brilliantly by the two actors, I really enjoyed ‘The Hangover Duet’. The two on stage had great voices and Tori’s fitted a professional singer, so much easier on the ears. Good sound and good articulation – always needed when the story is through song.
I also enjoyed there was no pointless dancing just because it was a musical.
Funny as it might sound, but I didn’t realise there were only two actors in the play until the interval when looking at the programme. The two on-stage characters were talking about other characters who were involved in the storyline but never appeared, chatting to them on the phone, by letter…..it did actually make you think more actors were going to appear. They filled their presence without us noticing they were not there.
The set is very creative, with a rotating outer circle to give the experience of walking through the streets and riding the subway, also getting props on stage easily. With only two actors, they fluidly used all the stage.
It’s a new musical and currently only playing at two theatres for a very short time – which is an absolute shame, it needs to tour! It was a wonderful feel-good theatre production and highly recommended.
Wear your Christmas jumper to the show, after all…..it is The Season……
This review first appeared on GrapevineLIVE