Magic happens to those who believe. {A New Theatre Royal Post}

Christmas Magic.

Christmas can be a skeptical time of year. For older children, whispers start about certain questions of truth and we can find ourselves asking the same thing. Is the magic real? As a teenager I don’t remember not believing in Christmas magic, but I remember accepting that certain things are done by certain people and if I wanted to enjoy the prospect of Christmas magic then I simply didn’t say anything against it and got on with it.

With younger siblings there was always some kind of magic needing to be portrayed at this time of year. Whether it was “be good or Father Christmas won’t come” or even joyfully looking on at Santa visits, having younger siblings meant, in our house the Christmas magic was real, until I left the day we got married. Having a 7 year old brother at that time meant that it was all too truthful that the big FC would only come if you were good! And carrying that into our married life, Christmas happened, as you would expect until our own children came along and suddenly we needed a bit of magic in our house too. The early years were easy, I only think in the last 3 Raph has fully understood what it is all about! Films help tell the story, but that magic can’t be touched in the same way. Having met Santa a few times, we all get a sudden burst of magic and he becomes real in that way, but sometimes, sometimes the magic comes from other places. It’s shop assistants wishing you a Merry Christmas as you leave a store, or local experiences that let you see the happy magic that appears, and it just really highlights how Christmas magic is centred around one man at one time of year. Christmas magic comes from everyone who is willing to give it and it is us who can then perpetuate that into our children and others.

The Theatre at Christmas.

We went to The New Theatre Royal on Friday for the opening night of their Panto SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS. I expected a great performance as that is what the NTR put out. What I didn’t expected was a certain level of magic that came with it. As always the NTR stellar cast took to the stage with great enthusiasm. With a few familiar faces from past shows and from the TV we were entertained to the highest level of stage class! Amazing scenery, great costumes and well rehearsed lines were at the forefront of the show which made the way to laughing and clapping a plenty! Particular highlights for me was the amazing singing this year, with 3 amazing lead female vocalists {AMELIA LILY, SOPHIE GAUDIE & PAIGE BROOKLYN COOK} the show sounded incredible. With a fabulous princely character played by BARNEY HARWOOD and a comic sidekick played by CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON and a traditional panto Dame JOEY HOWARD this show was packed with entertainment throughout.

The magic is real

What you can never anticipate with kids and the theatre is how much they like it. Our children look onto that stage and just want to be on it. They see it as magic, the people acting are those characters, the things they say are the truth and our children fall head over heels in love with the show itself. They can't get enough of it, you can see on their faces that everything in plain sight is the best thing they have seen. What Raphael and Giulietta  have always been great at is listening to a story. They love books, they love films and thanks to our fortunate life they have been able to see some truly special stage shows at local theatres. This year it could be to do with their age, maybe their imagination is stronger and takes control more but they both watched this show with such joy that for Rob and I, we were able to truly see them being drawn in by the theatre magic. 

The thing with this theatre though is that now it is a bit familiar to us, the children are really comfortable here and when it was offered to us to hang around and *maybe* see some of the cast I felt very honoured. At the Easter Panto here you have an option to meet the cast, fully dressed after the show as it is slightly smaller, but the Christmas panto is a much bigger production with lots more going on and their isn't the same option. However, not saying anything to the kids until the last minute meant that expectations weren't set up and by magical chance, who should walk out when we were standing there but the male lead BARNEY HARWOOD. Our Children's faces were an absolute picture. They just couldn't believe their luck at being there when he walked out. And thanks to the sheer kindness and patience of Mr Harwood our children got to sit and chat to him like he was a true mate. He was closely followed by CHRIS JOHNSON {The comedy sidekick} who equally made the kids laugh and laugh after he gave up his time to stand about and entertain them. 

Their time and kindness only solidified what coming the the theatre means to us. For Rob and I as parents, this place gives us a magical feeling of going somewhere special and it gives our children that magical twinkle in their eye. 

It also allows them the knowledge of understanding that maybe dreams really do come true and that people, who may act on stage or stand in front of you in plain clothes also bring the magic in the most simplest and kindest of ways.

Give yourself time this year to try and see a local panto. Let children experience the theatre because there is nothing quite like the magic that it can bring. 

The Show Pictures

*These tickets were gifted but the thoughts remain true. If you follow me on social media you will see that we attend this theatre and other locals ones often as we love them so much!

(Note from Rob: as I was spell checking this I was welling up as we had such a wonderful time and I'm an enormous woose!)