AS the song goes, have yourself a merry little Christmas. But how exactly? Yes, food and drink are a big part of it. Family gatherings too. But is it Christmas without entertainment? What better way to get in the mood for the upcoming Yuletide than to take in a show. Here are eight that might help you get into the festive mood (and a couple to take you into the New Year).
Messiah, Dunedin Consort
St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Glasgow, December 14, St Mary’s RC Church, Lanark, December 15 and Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, December 16
George Frideric Handel’s baroque masterpiece may now be a Christmas tradition, but its debut took place at Easter, on April 13, 1742 in Dublin in front of a record crowd of 700 at the city’s Musick Hall. The women in the audience were asked to come to the event in dresses “without hoops” to allow room for more people to squeeze in.
More than 250 years later, Handel’s oratorio remains a huge draw for its glorious combination of voice and music, and the Dunedin Consort, one of the world’s leading baroque ensembles, is better placed than most to deliver it. Hoops are optional.
PS, if you can’t make it along in December, the RSNO are performing Handel’s Messiah at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on January 2.
Folksville Christmas Social
Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh tonight and Hug & Pint, Glasgow, December 14
The Edinburgh folk club Folksville is heading west this Christmas with a special Glasgow show a week on Wednesday. Paper Sparrows will be joined by Flew the Arrow, Amy Hill and Alex Maxwell, as well as Pharisee (appearing as The Pharisee Singers). Meanwhile, tonight in Edinburgh, Paper Sparrows and Amy Hill are also appearing for the club’s capital Christmas bash alongside Castle Chorus, William Hershaw, Alice Faye, James Cook and Memphis Gerald. Expect a mixture of original songs and the odd festive tune.
Fanny and Alexander
Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow, December 18-21
Yes, we know It’s A Wonderful Life is meant to be the Christmas movie (anyone whispering Love Actually at this point, please leave the room). But wouldn’t you like to see a different Christmas movie this year? Well, you’re in luck. On its 40th anniversary, Ingmar Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander is back in cinemas this December. Far too little seen since its release in 1982, Bergman’s last film (there is also a longer television version) is set in Sweden in the early years of the 20th century and has more than a hint of the autobiographical about it.
Although only part of the film is set at Christmas, the Dickensian scale and uncharacteristic warmth and colour of Bergman’s vision of Swedish family life in the early years of the 20th century is perfect for this time of year. It’s an old man’s loving recreation of his childhood years, the severity of his early work replaced by the notion that life is not something just to get through. There’s joy in it too, despite everything. Still, if you must have the cheesy misogyny of Richard Curtis’s worst movie, you can catch Love Actually at the Usher Hall on December 7, accompanied by a full orchestra.
Kevin Quantum Christmas Special
Church Hill Theatre, Edinburgh, December 21 to Christmas Eve
Part of Magicfest, which runs December 17-31 in Edinburgh, Kevin Quantum’s latest show promises something of a festive flavour. Trained by Penn & Teller, no less, and a finalist in Britain’s Got Talent, Quantum returns to the capital following sell-out shows at the Fringe. The Magic Circle’s Young Magician of the Year, Adam Black is also on the bill. Other performers at this year’s Magicfest include Hector Mancha, Lewis Barlow, Magic Gareth and Scottish singer Ainsley Hamill. Visit magicfest.co.uk
Peter Pan and Wendy
Pitlochry Theatre, until December 23
Of course there is no shortage of traditional pantos up and down the country, but, as former Taggart star Colin McCredie (playing Captain Hook here) pointed out in these very pages a couple of weeks ago, Peter Pan and Wendy is a “Christmas show”. This new adaptation of JM Barrie’s story by Janys Chambers, directed by Ben Occhipinti and designed by Anna Orton, has its fair share of singing and dancing and a bit of flying. Robbie Scott plays Peter Pan, Fiona Wood is Wendy and Patricia Panther is Tinkerbell. Suitable for children of all ages. (Well, as long as you’re five or over. Even quite a bit over.)
Phil Cunningham’s Christmas Songbook
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, December 13, Albert Halls, Stirling, December 14, Easterbrook Hall, Dumfries, December 15, Aberdeen Music Hall, Aberdeen, December 17, The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, December 18 & 19, Perth Concert Hall, Perth, December 20
Phil Cunningham has been hosting his Christmas Songbook since 2005 which makes this annual folky treat a festive tradition now. With guests Karen Matheson, Kris Drever, John McCusker, Ian Carr and Kevin McGuire, this is a feast of the best of Scottish traditional music. Throw in Eddi Reader and you have the makings of a great party.
But if you can’t get tickets then can we suggest checking out Dowally & Friends Chrismukkah Concert at the Argyle & Cellar Bar, Edinburgh on December 9? The excellent Edinburgh duo Rachel Walker and Daniel Abrahams combine trad folk with jazz, Klezmer and anything else that catches their eye. For this special festive gig they will be joined by Phil Alexander, Sarah Irvine, Scott Gardiner and Michael Starkey.
Christmas at the Movies
City Halls, Glasgow, December 18
The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra is joined by singer Jamie MacDougall for a night of Disney favourites, Hollywood classics and the widescreen wonder of the music of composer John Williams. Fair to say, you will recognise pretty much everything.
Cinderella
Dundee Rep, Dundee, until December 31
A new musical version of the familiar fairy tale sees the glass slippers replaced by wellies, worn in this case by Hannah Visocchi who plays Ella. Written and composed by Lynda Radley and Michael John McCarthy, this festive entertainment is directed by Jemima Levick, with set and costume design by Kenneth MacLeod. You will go to the ball after all.
Hogmanay, Edinburgh
Third year lucky? Let’s hope so. After Covid wrecked any chance of the capital playing any part in the global celebrations of the New Year in both 2020 and 2021, the Pet Shop Boys will be in town to see in 2023 with a hit-heavy set of pop bangers. Better than sitting at home with some flat Prosecco and your Auntie Agnes telling you about her chilblains, surely?
Sophie Ellis-Bextor gets the party started on December 30 when she headlines the Night Afore Disco party in Princes Street Gardens, supported by Altered Images.
And then Tide Lines headline The Final Fling on New Year’s Day supported by Elephant Sessions and The Herald Magazine cover star Hamish Hawk.
All this is weather permitting, of course. Remember 2006 when atrocious wind and rain forced the cancellation of the Hogmanay celebrations in the capital? Who was meant to play that night? Oh yes, the Pet Shop Boys.
“We’ve always felt we’ve had some unfinished Hogmanay business in Edinburgh,” Neil Tennant said when their involvement was announced earlier this year.
Viennese New Year
Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Usher Hall, Edinburgh, January 1, Younger Hall, St Andrews, January 3 and Town Hall, Ayr, January 4
It is possibly best to forget that the tradition of orchestras playing a programme of the music of the Strauss family to see in the New Year does not stretch as far back as the 19th century, but, rather, to 1939 when the Vienna Philharmonic performed on New Year’s Day at the behest of Germany’s National Socialist Party. The annual concert was broadcast throughout the Third Reich in the years that followed. When it emerged that Johann Strauss had Jewish ancestry, the fact was hushed by Joseph Goebbels.
None of which can or should tarnish the joy of the music. The Scottish Chamber Orchestra will usher in 2023 with a programme that includes a taste of Bizet and Chausson but understandably concentrates on the familiar polkas and waltzes created by Strauss and his son. Die Fledermaus, The Blue Danube and the Radetzky March will all get an airing.
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