Walking in the Air, two decades on.
Celebrating twenty spellbinding years on the stage, the live version of Raymond Briggs’ iconic and much-loved children’s classic, The Snowman, returns home to Birmingham Repertory Theatre from 8th-18th January to enchant audiences of all ages.
Sparkling with charm and wit, The Snowman tells the magical story of a young boy’s adventures when his snowman comes miraculously to life on Christmas Eve. A glittering host of international snowmen and snow women are joined onstage by an array of colourful characters including dancing penguins, magical reindeer, a beautiful snow princess and her abominable beau Jack Frost and of course, Father Christmas himself. With its joyful combination of classic storytelling, music and dance, The Snowman is an enchanting treat for all the family.
Stuart Rogers, Executive Director of Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Producer of The Snowman says of the anniversary: “We’re delighted to welcome The Snowman back home to The REP an amazing twenty years after its first performance here. There are very few shows that enjoy such a remarkably long life and its continuing success and appeal to new generations of audiences is a tribute to the genius of the artistic team that created the show. We look forward to many more years of Walking in the Air with audiences old and new.”
The Snowman first appeared as a beautifully illustrated picture book by Raymond Briggs in 1978. It subsequently inspired the classic Oscar nominated, BAFTA award-winning animated film featuring Howard Blake’s wonderful score, first transmitted by Channel 4 on Christmas Eve thirty years ago. The film’s signature song Walking in the Air reached number three in the UK charts when sung by choirboy Aled Jones in 1985, and the song was voted number two in a poll conducted by Classic FM to find out children’s favourite pieces of classical music, beating Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and Tchaikovsky’s Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy amongst others.
Since its premiere at Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 1993 the live stage show of The Snowman has been seen by over a million people worldwide and has thrilled audiences at the Peacock Theatre, London for a record-breaking 15 years. The show has been seen in Korea, Japan, Holland and Finland and in 2010 a performance of the stage show was filmed in the auditorium of Birmingham Repertory Theatre – the show’s birthplace – with a live audience, 14 cameras and a superb narration by Joanna Lumley. It is now on major DVD release in the UK.
In addition to the Birmingham dates the live stage show of The Snowman also tours to the Peacock Theatre, London (27th November–5th January), The Mayflower, Southampton (21st– 25th January) and Theatre Royal, Nottingham (28th January–1st February). More about the show can be found at www.snowmanshow.com .
The Snowman is directed by Bill Alexander and choreographed by Robert North with set and costume designs by Ruari Murchison and lighting by Tim Mitchell.
Tickets: £12.50 – £35
Box Office: 0121 236 4455
Online booking: birmingham-rep.co.uk
