Review: Nativity the Musical at Wales Millennium Centre
Last night George and I headed to Wales Millennium Centre to watch the fabulous Nativity the Musical.
The show began with Mr Poppy (Scott Paige) setting the scene and I have to say he was such an amazing part of the show. He was utterly hilarious! He owned the stage every time he was on it and shone throughout the entire performance.
Scott Garnham played the part of Mr Maddens, the heart broken teacher who pined for his childhood sweetheart Jennifer Lore (Ashleigh Gray) who had left to pursue her dreams in America. Both of these guys were fantastic actors and performers and Ashleigh’s voice was outstanding, some of the notes she hit with that power really blew me away.
Mr Shakespeare was played by Charles Brunton, who began the show with a very theatrical voice. I thought he was very talented to begin with but his voice wasn’t that which I would normally enjoy. However, as his character developed and became more crooked and slightly evil, his voice really shone and I felt he was cast perfectly.
Mrs Bevan (Penelope Woodman), the headteacher, was pretty fantastic throughout. Her comic timing intertwined well with that of Mr Poppy (her nephew) and when she belted out some of her parts I was in total awe.
Jamie Chapman played a number of roles which were all comical, including that of the critic, the priest and the tour guide. He was camp and entertaining especially as the priest!
Jonathan Bourne as the Lord Mayor was a wow! He almost knocked me off my seat when he began to sing. I really enjoyed every moment he had on stage.
Dani Dyer was perfect in her role as Polly Parker, she sang beautifully and she had such poise in her character. Towards the end of the performance she melted my heart with the way she was with the children.
Although all the adult performers were amazing, the stars of the show were 100% the children! What the flip-flop?! They were so so good. Every song they sang as a group gave me goosebumps and my oh my could some of them hold their own on that stage?! Little Teddy was so cute and then he let out this enormous voice at the end of the show, just wow! All of the children were brilliant and made the show for me.
The scenery wasn’t overly complicated but really made each moment perfect. I especially loved when they were in the ruins of the old cathedral, the way the scenery created depth and false perspective freaked my mind out!
Here’s what George thought…
I really enjoyed the show, I think it was amazing. My favourite actor was Poppy (Scott Paige), and I thought that all the kids were brave because they went on wires high up and they knew there were lots of people watching them. I also think it was really funny and I bet everyone there loved the show and really enjoyed it like me and Zoey did.
Overall we really enjoyed the show. It was hilarious, beautiful, entertaining and heart warming (Yes I cried!). We would seriously recommend going to check it out while you can at Wales Millennium Centre.
