The Snowman: The Live Stage Show

Based on the book by Raymond Briggs, The Snowman is a perennial Christmas favourite that is virtually guaranteed to be on television at some point during the festive season. It is a wonderful piece of television which, at about 25 minutes long, doesn't seem to have dated at all despite the book being published in 1978 and the TV adaptation for years later. It must have been compulsory bedtime reading in our house and, because of the way parents can adapt prose to suit their audience, I grew up thinking that the boy in the story was called David!

I wasn't aware that a stage version of the story had existed since 1993 using Howard Blake's music -- one of the major features of the TV adaptation -- and there have been various different versions of this stage show since then with a big change coming in 2000 when two new characters were introduced. This DVD shows a performance at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, presumably from last year, with the two new characters and optional narration by Joanna Lumley.

The stage version follows the original story extremely faithfully with the young boy building a snowman in the garden, going to bed, waking up and going on an adventure with the now reanimated snowman who takes him flying to a winter wonderland where they meet other snowmen and Father Christmas before returning home where, the next day, the snowman melts.

As the story is so simple, it is something that is ideally suited for this stage as there really aren't many breaks for set changes, costumes or anything like that. As the years have gone on, there have been various developments in the show with the most important perhaps being the wire work that allows the snowman and boy to really fly across the stage as people look up and the background changes to show their progress.

There are quite frequent cutaways to show the adults and particularly the young children in the audience completely enraptured by events on stage with the youngsters cuddling up to their parents, applauding at various points and seemingly loving every minute of the production.


For something that is a pantomime production, I just wondered why it is released on DVD is surely the magic is being there but maybe this is the sort of thing that will appeal to those who had seen it on stage or people who love the TV adaptation and just want something more. It is a wonderful stage performance with Howard Blake's music really swelling and driving the story -- you don't need to have the narration to follow events as much of it is self-explanatory but it does give another dimension to the process of storytelling.

As someone who was brought up with the book and TV adaptation of The Snowman, I found this surprisingly enjoyable and went with it for the entire running time. I'm not sure quite why as I'm almost certain that I would have much rather watch a double bill of The Snowman and Father Christmas but, taking this on its own merits, it is a very well made and hugely enjoyable production that will probably find a huge audience in children who are around school-age, if not much younger.


The Disc

Extra Features
There are three interviews with Howard Blake which bizarrely need to be selected individually as there isn't a 'play all' option but, in these three pieces which are each about five minutes long, he does discuss the origins of the TV adaptation, how the stage show came about and why the Birmingham Repertory Theatre is so involved.


The Picture
Presented in anamorphic 1.78:1, this does look very good with well-placed cameras in the theatre say capture the onstage events from a variety of angles and the cutaways, which aren't too numerous to become annoying but are enough to show the audience reaction, are a nice addition. The costumes are very well designed and it is the sort of thing that would work very well on stage when the audience is somewhat removed from the action but these cameras get a little closer than anyone would in the theatre.

I'm not quite sure why but I imagine it must to emphasise certain elements, there has been some CGI added to the actions so you have additional snow, flashing lights and glowing spheres where there are close ups.


The Sound
There are four audio options: Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo with or without narration and DD 5.1 surround with or without narration. Both the stereo and surround do the job very well but the surround mix has the edge when it comes to the more emotive pieces of music which swirl around the room, bringing the rear surrounds into play.

Joanna Lumley is an inspired choice to provide the narration is she has the perfect diction and enunciation for such a job and I found watching it with the narration on to be a welcome change from the normal voiceless story.


Final Thoughts
The Snowman is such a Christmas tradition that I'm surprised that the 25 minute short didn't make it onto the disc as an extra feature so this would cater for those who love the animated feature and are intrigued by the idea of a stage production and those who have seen the stage production and would like the option of watching the original TV adaptation. However, I'm not sure if this will appeal to everyone but for those who have seen it on stage and would like to replicate the experience at home, then this will be a welcome release.