At the end of December, we were invited along to review The snowman at Liverpool Cathedral, a big screen showing of this classic animation accompanied by a live orchestra. Since it’s a little early to be planning days out for next Christmas, I’m going to tell you about a another event from Carrot Productions coming to a venue near you this May/June, Wallace & Gromit’s Musical Marvels (all Wallace & Gromit images in this post are (c) and TM Aardman/W&G Ltd All rights reserved). Then I’ll review The snowman at Liverpool Cathedral for you so you can get an idea of what to expect from Wallace & Gromit’s Musical Marvels. In the interest of full disclosure, we have been given a family ticket to see Wallace & Gromit this spring as well as the tickets we were given for The Snowman.
Wallace & Gromit’s Musical Marvel is a collaboration between Aardman and Carrot productions celebrating the 30th anniversary of Wallace & Gromit. The show features Wallace as he prepares to perform his musical masterpiece My Concerto in Ee Lad with help from his faithful canine companion Gromit. It’s an interactive experience featuring specially created animations accompanied by a live orchestral. This is followed by a screening of the Wallace & Gromit film The Wrong Trousers again with a live orchestral accompaniment. The live orchestra production will be touring 38 venues across the UK, from London to Glasgow with many places in between. Check out the trailer below to get a preview of what you can expect.
Find out where your nearest venue is and book your tickets here.
The Snowman at Liverpool Cathedral
This was our second time seeing the show as we were invited to Chester cathedral the Christmas before. You’ll have to excuse my photos, they’re not my usual quality as it was dark in the cathedral which is lovely for the atmosphere but not great for photography. In case you missed my review last year or when I mentioned the show as being a great Christmas day out in the North West, The snowman tour is a big screen showing of the classic animation, accompanied by a live orchestra. It truly is a magical experience. Find out more here.
If you are anything like me, I bet you have been watching The Snowman every Christmas since you were a child (ok, perhaps there was a few years gap in the middle). It’s a staple in our Christmases for a reason. Such a beautiful animation that is perfect for Christmas Eve. I’d been wondering whether my 2 year old was old enough to go watch it live at Liverpool Cathedral for a little while. She’s not got a great attention span for sitting still (but what toddler has?) so when on Christmas Eve, I put it on the tv and watched it with her and my 5 year old. To my amazement, she sat and watched it, mesmerised by it. It was the perfect way to relax before bedtime. That’s when we decided to take her with us to see it live. A descision we didn’t regret.
We arrived at Liverpool Cathedral which in my opinion is a fantastic venue for a show with a live orchestra, and the girls were very excited. We found some seats and waited for the show to start. The children loved the big Christmas tree and watching the images change on the big screen at the front. The images alternated between images from the animation and artwork of the snowman done by young children.
Then the performance started with one of the orchestra telling a story of the journey to one of the previous performances in the snow. It was set to music by the orchestra and included a cartoon on the big screen. Of course, the journey to that particular one had been eventful in a comical way. The present was really engaging an entertaining and the kids learnt something about different instruments that make up an orchestra in an entertaining way.
The next part of the performance was the first animation which was The bear and the piano by David Litchfield. The animation is narrated by Joanna Lumley, whose voice is just perfect for this animation. The animation is also accompanied by music from the orchestra which really sets the tone of the piece. The bear and the piano is a tale of a bear that learns to play the piano and leaves the forest for the bright lights of Broadway. In the big city he finds fame and fortune but soon he misses his friends and returns to the forest to discover how proud they are of him. Another lovely animation that we all enjoyed. After this, it was the snowman waltz, where a person dressed as the snowman dances across the stage and down the centre of the aisle, whilst the orchestra play music. My girls loved this and the 2 year old was particularly mesmerised.
After a 15 minute interval, it was time for the main event, The snowman illustration accompanied by the orchestra and featuring a local child soloist singing “we’re walking in the air”. As I mentioned above we love the animation and seeing it on a big screen with the live orchestra is even more magical. The child soloist did an amazing job and had the audience watching and listening spellbound. Overall, we all loved this performance and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone.
I can’t wait for May to see Wallace & Gromit’s Musical Marvel. Don’t forget you can get your tickets here.
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Disclosure: We have been given tickets to The snowman and Wallace & Gromit in exchange for an honest reviews.