Christmas Proms

The annual Christmas Proms is a popular occasion each year in Adelaide. It is part of the city’s celebrations leading up to Christmas and, as such, is well attended.

‘Proms’ traditionally refers to Promenade Concerts, originally connected to outdoor  classical music pleasure concerts during which people would promenade about whilst listening.

This year’s Proms line-up at the Festival Theatre is clearly a popular one, given the large audience when I attended and the bubbly enthusiasm exuded. Whilst appealing mainly to an elderly demographic, there were many families too, who had gathered to share some Christmas cheer.

The stage is set with the wonderful Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Guy Noble), a coloured cyclorama, Christmas trees and other decorations, designed by Kathryn Sproul, which ‘fly in’ during the performances. This year’s proms very much has a 1940’s feel to it - quite reminiscent of the classic Holiday Inn and White Christmas. Gorgeous glittering evening gowns worn by the leading lady Lucy Durack, a swelling orchestra, tap dancing in Christmas cardigans and tuxedos by the clever Sean Mulligan and Jan Di Pietro set us up for a journey down memory lane and a Christmas soiree.

The show is very eclectic - obviously focusing on carols, but we were also treated to some other beautiful musicianship and entertainment. The opening carol “The Holly and the Ivy” was a great start and Lucy Durack’s version of “We Need a Little Christmas” certainly lifted our spirits. Guy Noble showed his talents as an emcee and good humouredly lead us through the show.

There are some notable musical moments from the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. In particular, “Troike” from the Lieutenant Kijie Suite and the beautiful “Waltz of the Flowers” from Nutracker. Accompanying the latter is a group of young dancers from Barbara Jane Dance School who show great joy and talent. It would be remiss not to mention the skilled dancing of a very young ballerina, Mietta Brookman, who stole the opening show, dancing as Clara.

Lucy Durack sang beautifully throughout the night, but I felt was somewhat underused. As a huge fan, I wanted to hear more from her. Sean Mulligan and Jan Di Pietro showed their talents as tappers and overall entertainers as they crooned their way through some wonderful numbers like “Me and My Shadow”, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” and “Good Morning”. A particularly enjoyable number was “Sandpaper Ballet”.

The show overall has something for everyone - even audience participation, in a very funny version of “The Twelve Days of Christmas”.

Directed by Chris Horsey, the dance numbers and showmanship are very good. However the staging of many of the numbers left the audience detached. Many are delivered from a scaffolded platform behind the orchestra which at times blocked our view. Tap dancing that far back lost its appeal as the audience could only see the gentlemen from the waist up! Lucy Durack, likewise, was placed to sing the beautiful “At Last” back on the scaffold-  not a good decision by my reckoning, as part of her appeal is her ability to sell a song with her facial and body expressions - most of which we could not see from this distance.

Having said that, overall, the Christmas Proms is a delightful evening’s entertainment and allows people to come together, forget their worries and be joyfully entertained by the talented cast whilst having the opportunity to join in happy carol singing. 

Shelley Hampton