Miracle on 34th Street: Review

A story as well-known as, ‘Miracle on 34th Street’ has a lot to live up to in a stage-show retelling. Many will know it from the classic 1947 movie starring Natalie Wood, in which Santa Claus finds himself in court on Christmas Eve having to justify his existence. The story has since become a firm festive favourite, enjoying radio and TV remakes, as well as being given the full big-screen treatment again in 1994 with Richard Attenborough as Father Christmas, Kris Kringle.

The musical version, although it was first staged on Broadway in 1963, is less familiar. It was penned by Meredith Willson whose 1951 song, ‘It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,’ features in the show. This production at Home takes Willson’s adaptation and gives it a Mancunian twist with the young girl at the heart of the story, Susan starting out in Manchester and entering through a big red door into a world of New York candy canes and popcorn.

Miracle on 34th Street at Home Photo by Chris Payne.

Ciarán Bagnall immerses us into this world with a set that transforms from a single door to an eye-popping set that fills the whole stage – you can only imagine the fun it must have been choosing the toys to fill the floor to ceiling shelves of the famous department store. A live four-piece band is on stage too and visible during the whole performance, under an arch that looks like it could have captured them in a child’s snow globe.

Perhaps the biggest challenge in staging a show like this is finding the right child to lead it. It is a big ask for a young actor. They are on stage virtually the whole time, and the script demands they take the audience with them on this magical journey that has them laughing out loud one minute while tugging on their heart strings the next.

For this production it feels like the team at Home has pulled off its own Christmas miracle in finding not one but three young children with already a string of top acting credits behind them. On Wednesday we saw 10-year-old Karis, who some might recognise from her recent role as ‘Young Elphaba’ in the new Wicked film starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.

Having a young child take centre stage in this way is a real winner for young audiences because you could almost see their imaginations running to picture themselves in her place.

The adults do a fine job too, particularly Adam Vaughan as Kris Kringle whose rich vocals bring a genuine warmth that gives the show the festive lift everyone is looking for.

Setting up the scene and the characters can often be a bit slow, and the first act suffers a bit for this. However, the pace picks up speed after the interval and the court room scene has enough surprises to keep everyone entertained. There is even a chance your letter to Santa could be read out during the show. It’s a definite festive winner.