Author: FairyPoweredProductions

21 ROUND FOR CHRISTMAS

BY MATTHEW BALLANTYNE AND TOBY HAMPTON

STARRING CLARE BLOOMER

PREMIERING AT THE HOPE THEATRE
30 NOVEMBER – 18 DECEMBER

TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW HERE

This winter, The Hope Theatre – the acclaimed 50 seat pub theatre in the heart of Islington – will present the world stage premiere of 21 Round For Christmas by Matthew Ballantyne and Toby Hampton. Tickets are on sale now, with performances from 30 November to 18 December, with a press night on 2 December.

Directed by The Hope Theatre’s award-nominated Deputy Artistic Director, Toby Hampton, 21 Round for Christmas will star Clare Bloomer, who reprises the role of Tracy from the successful OnComm nominated Hope At Home digital series, produced by the theatre during lockdown.

“How does Christmas Day end?…

With the letter ‘Y’… “

Christmas time, mistletoe & wine, children singing Christian rhymes… out of tune and far too loudly for six in the f**ing morning! Join Tracy Sullivan, a day-dreaming, outspoken, list-making, extroverted-introvert in the midst of cooking Christmas Dinner for her family – her extremely large family. A raucous festive romp with… a little bit of spice! 

Toby Hampton said, “This show has been so long in the making that I can’t believe it’s finally here! It’s been such a pleasure to work with this brilliant team and I’m really excited to share Tracy with the world. I hope that there’s something in it for everyone so come and see our show… please!”

Clare Bloomer’s recent credits include Margaret Thatcher in Maggie and Ted by Michael McManus (Yvonne Arnaud/Garrick Theatre/White Bear – OffComm Commendation); Gertrude in Hamlet (Iris Theatre); Shylock in The Merchant of Venice (Bedouin Shakespeare for Duke of York’s/ Silvano Toti Globe Theatre, Rome); Always Tuesday (Southwark Playhouse) and Foul Pages (The Hope Theatre). Clare trained at RADA where she was a Lilian Baylis and Verity Hudson Bursary Award recipient.

Opening in 2013, The Hope Theatre was originally a sister theatre of Islington’s King’s Head Theatre, renovated from a function room above the famous Hope & Anchor pub and music venue into a black box studio theatre. The Hope Theatre has transferred two productions to the West End (Ushers to the Charing Cross Theatre and the Snoo Wilson’s Lovesong Of The Electric Bear to The Arts) and has been home to many world premieres. It also housed the professional world premiere of Joe Orton’s Fred And Madge.

The Hope Theatre is a place for audiences and companies to explore BIG ideas. It nurtures and develops new producing models, working with exciting companies to present a mix of new writing, lost gems from well-known writers, re-polished classics and innovatively staged musicals.

Although The Hope Theatre has received no regular public subsidy since its 2013 opening, it was the first Off West End venue to open with a house agreement with Equity. This ensures a legal wage for all actors, stage managers and box office staff working at the theatre.

In 2020, Kennedy Bloomer became Artistic Director of the theatre and navigated the theatre through the global Covid-19 pandemic and total closure by taking The Hope Theatre online. Phil Bartlett was appointed Artistic Director in September 2021, and will be announcing the theatre’s 2022 programme later this autumn.

The Hope Theatre was successfully granted funds from the Arts Council England Emergency Response Fund, the ACE and DCMS Culture Recovery Fund 1 and 2, and Islington Council’s Cultural and Evening Economy Support Fund. The Hope Theatre team would like to gratefully acknowledge the role that this funding has played in enabling the venue to survive and reopen this summer.

Artistic Director: Phil Bartlett 

Deputy Artistic Director: Toby Hampton 

Technical Manager: Gianluca Zona 

Patron: Paul Clayton 

Support The Hope Theatre: https://www.thehopetheatre.com/support-us/

Or visit www.thehopetheatre.com for more information.

A NEW FUNKY FEEL-GOOD MUSICAL IS COMING TO A TOWN NEAR YOU!

Friendship. Fame. Betrayal.

From the producers of hit comedies Hormonal Housewives and Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Red Entertainment are pleased to announce the brand-new touring musical Soul Sisters!

Directed by multi-award-winning comedienne Angie Le Mar, Soul Sisters is an exhilarating new all-female soul musical that will take you on a journey of success, survival and sisterhood.

Angie Le Mar celebrates a career that spans over thirty years, after becoming the first Black female stand-up on the British comedy circuit, Le Mar is now respected in the showbiz world of comedy, television and film.

Soul Sisters, written by David Kent, is on sale from today in venues across the country.

 Angie Le Mar, Director for Soul Sisters The Musical said “I am truly honoured to be directing this amazing musical. Growing up and listening to Soul Music, it was not only the soundtrack to my life but to many people’s lives. David Kent has given us a great relatable story of sisterhood, friendship, and so much more. This production will hit you on so many levels from beginning to end! If you love music, love Soul and the memories, you’ll love Soul Sisters.” 

Have you ever felt like you want to turn back the clock and party with your best friends? The stars of Soul Sisters are about to do just that. Set in a holiday camp chalet at a Soul Weekender, we follow a 70s smash-hit making band, The Fabulettes, as they seek to reclaim that elusive closeness they once shared as starry-eyed teens.

Our stars, Alma, Moira, & Rachael, have known each other for 30 years yet nothing can prepare them for tonight’s revelations. They face the real, honest truth and express themselves in the only way they know-how – through the very music that brought them together.

If real friendship is about accepting your friends as they truly are, then perhaps first they must learn to accept themselves.

Matt Brinkler, Executive Producer at RED Entertainment said “Bringing new musicals and comedy to theatres all over the country is our passion at RED Entertainment. We’re really excited for everyone to come and join us at Soul Sisters. It’s like the UK’s answer to Dreamgirls and everyone leaves singing the songs.”

10 Things to do in a Small Cumbrian Town
Alphabetti Theatre, St James’ Blvd, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4HP
Tuesday 23rd November – Saturday 11th December 2021

10 Things to do in a Small Cumbrian Town is a hilarious one-woman play written and performed by Hannah Sowerby who grew up in a small North West town. A proud Cumbrian, Hannah wants to show that living in the regions isn’t all hiking, lakes and kayaking. This funny and honest production is about finding connection when you’re lonely, about finding solid ground when you’re lost at sea and holding on when everything’s hanging from a thread.

All Jodie wants to do is kiss a woman, but the only woman available in Penrith seems to be her friend’s Mam… 19-year-old Jodie hasn’t gone to uni like most of her friends, but has been forced into taking a job shelf-stacking by her very sweary Nana. Join Jodie as she attends counselling with her shit, yet hot, counsellor, keeps bumping into everyone she’s ever met in the local supermarket and is repeatedly invited to a very strange man’s static caravan…

Hannah Sowerby comments, 10 Things is a fictional story, but it draws inspiration from my own experience of growing up in a small Cumbrian town, which was even smaller than the one in which the play is set. It’s a comedy drama about the love/hate relationship of being a young person growing up in a rural area, where there is very little to do, and the ridiculous and creative things you end up doing to amuse yourself. The play follows Jodie Bell, who has lost herself and is incredibly isolated, which I’m sure many people will relate to after a year in which mental health has been an important and pressing issue globally. This is a play about finding things to laugh at
in the darkest of times, finding strength inside you that you didn’t know you had and riding around on tractors with strange men…

Director Jonluke McKie comments, Hannah has an amazing knack for exploring darker issues in a way that highlights the beauty and poignancy in life. It’ll make you think, make you belly laugh, bring a tear to your eye, and most of all give you a fantastic night out.

Brockley Jack Studio Theatre – 6 – 9 October 2021

Reviewed by Claire Roderick

3***

Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss created Six while they were students, and their musical has become a worldwide hit. Gustav Holst and Fritz B Hart’s comic operetta never reached those heights, destined to become one of those works that is “rediscovered” as a lesser early piece. It definitely has the feel of a student composition – the Victorian equivalent of a Monty Pythonesque riff on Gilbert and Sullivan. There are hints of the great things to come in Holst’s music, and librettist Hart has some sly and sharp lines in between some groan-inducing rhymes.

The King (Ross Hobson) is miserable – he is sick of Roly Poly for pudding every day, but the Queen (Valeria Perboni) insists on him eating it. Adding to his misery, their sentry (Simon Mulligan) has the newest verses from the dreadful poet Buffy and reads them to his unwilling audience. When the Prime Minister (John Stivey) recovers from a long illness and announces that he has had an idea it is a shock to the entire palace. He suggests that, as the current situation in the country is grim, the men and women should swap roles. This leads to comic scenes of servant Mona (Elena Hogg) trying to handle a rifle without shooting herself, and sweet revenge for the King.

It’s a fairly static show, with director Paula Chitty keeping the running time under an hour and just a couple of instrumental “dance” breaks. This means the cast must convey the lunacy with facial and hand gestures rather than big physical comedy, and most do a fine job. Valeria Perboni is the star of the show, with a gorgeous voice and her Queen obviously wearing the trousers under a voluminous crinoline. Ross Hobson is funny as the milksop King who couldn’t run a bath alone. There are lots of giggles to be had from modern parallels with the duplicitous, self-serving PM having a ridiculous idea and backtracking when things go wrong. Laurie O’Brien and Patrick Vincent perform the music on stage and do a fine job, with the company’s voices blending nicely.

The Idea is obviously the work of two not yet fully developed musical talents, but Irrational Theatre’s production this sweet and silly show is well worth a look.

BRAND NEW IMAGES RELEASED FOR

A CHORUS LINE

OPENING AT CURVE

3 – 31 DECEMBER

SENSATIONAL CAST SET TO BRING A MAGICAL CHRISTMAS TO CURVE IN

A CHORUS LINE

Directed by Nikolai Foster

Choreography by Ellen Kane

Featuring Adam Cooper as Zach and Carly Mercedes Dyer as Cassie

Curve theatre in Leicester has revealed the full cast of its Christmas musical A Chorus Line, including world famous dancer Adam Cooper and West End and Curve favourite Carly Mercedes Dyer.

Adam will play the role of Zach, the director / choreographer responsible for putting the performers through their paces in the show’s audition. Having gained acclaim for creating the lead role of the Swan/Stranger in Matthew Bourne’s production of Swan Lake – a role he also performed in the 2000 film Billy Elliot as the adult Billy – Adam is internationally renowned as a musical theatre performer, dancer and choreographer.

Carly Mercedes Dyer will star alongside Adam as Cassie, an auditionee and Zach’s ex-lover. Carly, who is currently performing in Anything Goesat The Barbican in London, recently appeared in the Curve at Home production of The Color Purpleas Shug Avery, which streamed in Spring 2021, and as Anita in the Made at Curve 2019 production of West Side Story

A smash-hit Broadway masterpiece, A Chorus Line will run at Curve from 3 to 31 December. The musicalfeatures iconic songs including ‘One’, ‘I Hope I Get It’, ‘Nothing’ and the hit ballad ‘What I Did For Love’.  

The production reunites Curve’s Artistic Director Nikolai Foster and Choreographer Ellen Kane, who last worked together on the five-star Made at Curve production of West Side Story.

The cast features a host of familiar faces to Curve, including West Side Story company members Ronan Burns as Bobby Mills, Beth Hinton-Lever as Bebe Benzenheimer, Katie Lee as Kristine Ulrich and Redmand Rance as Mike Costa

The cast is completed by Emily Barnett-Salter as Sheila Bryant, Bradley Delarosbel as Gregory Gardner, Lizzy-Rose Esin-Kelly as Diana Morales, André Fabien Francis as Richie Walters, Ainsley Hall Ricketts as Paul San Marco, Joshua Lay as Al Deluca, Kanako Nakano as Judy Turner, Hicaro Nicolai as Swing, Jamie O’Leary as Mark Anthony, Tom Partridge as Don Kerr, Rachel Jayne Picar as Connie Wong, Chloe Saunders as Val Clarke, Charlotte Scott as Maggie Winslow, Hollie Smith-Nelson as Swing, Marina Tavolieri as Swing and Taylor Walker as Larry.

New York City. 1975. On an empty Broadway stage, 18 performers are put through their paces in the final, gruelling audition for a new Broadway musical. Only eight will make the cut. The audition takes an unexpected turn as the director, Zach, invites the performers to open up about their lives and what brought them into theatre. What follows are searing stories of ambition, childhood, shattered dreams and what it means to follow your dreams onto the stage. The emotional stakes are heightened when Zach’s ex-lover Cassie, fresh from an attempt to make it in Hollywood, wants to audition for the chorus line.

A Chorus Line will have set designed by Grace Smart, musical supervision from David Shrubsole, costume design by Edd Lindley, lighting by Howard Hudson, sound design by Tom Marshall and musical direction by Tamara Saringer. The show is cast by Curve Associate Kay Magson CDG.

Curve’s Chief Executive Chris Stafford and Artistic Director Nikolai Foster said:

“Our A Chorus Line company of actors represent the very best talent working in the UK today. Led by our terrific casting director Kay Magson, we are thrilled to have brought together this astonishingly talented group of artists who will ignite this brand-new production, giving our audiences much to celebrate this Christmas.

“Just as the original production of A Chorus Line gave voice to the incredible performers who make every show possible, this cracking company of actors will rediscover this classic musical afresh. The incomparable Carly Mercedes Dyer and majestic Adam Cooper lead an outstanding cast, who will literally blow the roof off Curve this Christmas.

“We are looking forward to welcoming our communities and audiences from across the UK for a very special Christmas at Curve, with A Chorus Line’s astonishing Marvin Hamlisch score and Ellen Kane’s heart-stopping choreography.”

A Chorus Line was created by Michael Bennett, who used real-life testimonies from chorus dancers to celebrate the lives of theatre’s unsung heroes. The musical has a book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante, music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban,

Tickets for A Chorus Line at Curveare on sale now. To find out more and book tickets, visit www.curveonline.co.uk

A CHORUS LINE

Conceived & Originally Directed & Choreographed by Michael Bennett
Book by James Kirkwood & Nicholas Dante
Music by Marvin Hamlisch Lyrics by Edward Kleban
Co-choreographed by Bob Avian

Original Broadway Production produced by the New York Shakespeare Festival. Joseph Papp, Producer, in association with Plum Productions, Inc

A Chorus Line is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd. on behalf of Tams-Witmark LLC. www.concordtheatricals.co.uk

Chichester Festival Theatre – until 23 October 2021

Reviewed by Emma Barnes

4****

Chichester Festival theatre triumphs again with this world premiere adaptation of Andrea Levy’s The Long Song by Suhayla-El-Bushra, which coincides with Black History Month.

This is story which needs to be heard, set in the time of slavery, an important often hidden traumatic part of Jamaican history which predates Windrush. The play closely follows the book and like the book is told with humanity and also a great deal of humour.

The story concentrates on the characters and the relationships between the slaves and their plantation owners, and although set in the past there are many themes that resonate now all over the world. This is a strong story, narrated by central character Miss July. Heart wrenching and poignant, with just the right level of well placed humour to balance without undermining the subject.

The words are beautifully written, performed and directed, capturing the audience and transporting them to the sights and sounds of the Caribbean with subtle lighting and sound, dialect and use of authentic words. Expect your evening to be filled with a range of emotions; laughter, inspiration, anger, empowerment, education, compassion for the survivors. Hope for a long term future tainted with apprehension for the short term future as newly freed slaves. Most of all you can expect to be thoroughly entertained.

An excellent play and production which deserves to be shown and time and any place.

A huge mention has to go to Llewella Gideon as Old July who brilliantly navigated us through the timeline spanning several decades and was the glue seamlessly binding the various subplots together with captivating charm and character. Congratulations also to Tara Tijani as the younger July who made her professional debut – someone to watch out for in the future.

The show was well received by the audience and received a standing ovation.

 Launch images of the Sleeping Beauty cast at the Lyceum theatre

Starring Janine Duvitski (Benidorm), Sheffield’s legendary Dame, Damian Williams, actor, presenter and comic Ben Thornton (Cinderella), Lucas Rush (Damian’s Pop-Up Panto!, Rock of Ages), Hannah Everest (Gypsy) and Dominic Sibanda (Hairspray). The cast will be supported by a brilliant ensemble.

Back in the Lyceum theatre, Sleeping Beauty is bigger and bolder than ever! Written and directed by regular pantomime producer Paul Hendy, this will be the fourteenth year Sheffield Theatres and Evolution Pantomimes have produced the Sheffield Lyceum pantomime.

Sleeping Beauty runs from Friday 3 December 2021 – Monday 3 January 2022 at the Lyceum theatre, Sheffield. Tickets are on sale now at www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk

FUTURE SPOTLIGHT PRODUCTIONS AND

KIDZANIA LONDON ANNOUNCE ADULT NIGHTS

HALLOWEEN SPECIAL

Future Spotlight Productions and KidZania London today announces Adult Nights, a one-off Halloween special at the immersive KidZania indoor city featuring immersive role-play activities, cocktails on entry and live performances from emerging musical theatre stars. With a spectacular live show on the Runway Stage, audiences will have full access of the KidZania indoor city, which features a replica radio station, supermarket, airport, fire station and more. Adult Nights will be on 22 October with entry from 7-11pm.

Hosted by Rosie Napper, the live entertainment features performances by Ross Harmon (Heathers – West End), Beccy Lane (Bare The Pop Opera, In Pieces), Kyle Birch (Children Of Eden), Roxanne Couch (2021 ArtsEd Graduate); with dancers Conor Tidman and Lukas Poischbeg.

Completing the creative team is Louis Rayneau (Director), Rachel Sargent (Choreographer) and Daisy Loving (Production Assistant).

Louis Rayneau, Artistic Director of Future Spotlight Productions, said today “I’m delighted to be collaborating with KidZania London on this spook-tacular event! Collaborating with them is always a treat and I am so thrilled to unleash what we have in store for you all! Exploring KidZania London is like stepping into another world; the fact that adults now get the chance to really get lost in the magic and fun of the activities through the city is so exciting! There’s also delicious food and drink on offer and TWO frightening full out shows throughout the night on our Brand-New Runway Stage in the Main Square! Expect the unexpected – this is a show you won’t forget, and the cast are phenomenal!”

Tickets are from £35 and are available to buy at: https://ticket.kidzania-london.co.uk/; use the code ANEARLY20 for 20% off until 8 October.

Kyle Birch’s theatre credits include Leave a Light On (Lambert Jackson), Spotlight on the Future: Live, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Future Spotlight Productions/KidZania), A Night With Emerging Writers (Red Piano Productions), Turn Up London (Club 11), Spooktacular (The Grad Fest) and Untapped: at the Union (Bray Productions).

Roxanne Couch is a recent graduate of Arts Ed. Her recent credits include In Pieces Live (Future Spotlight Productions) and I Could Use A Drink (Garrick Theatre).

Ross Harmon is a recent graduate of the London School of Musical Theatre and his recent credits Heathers (Theatre Royal Haymarket), In Pieces Live (Future Spotlight Productions) and Mamma Mia (Royal Caribbean).

Beccy Lane is a recent graduate of Performance Preparation Academy. Her recent credits include In Pieces (Future Spotlight Productions) and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Future Spotlight Productions/KidZania).

Rosie Napper hosts. She is a recent graduate of Performance Preparation Academy. Her credits include Spotlight on the Future LIVE! (Future Spotlight Productions) and Disney Dream Cruises.

Lukas Poischbeg is currently studying at University of Roehampton for an MFA in Dance and Embodied Practice and will graduate in 2022. His credits include Phoenix Risen (MS Amadea Cruise Ship), Newsies (Village Theatre) and Legally Blonde (Showtunes Theatre Company).

Connor Tidman is a dancer. His credits include The Brit Awards and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.

LISTINGS

ADULT NIGHTS

KidZania London

Westfield London, Ariel Way, W12 7GA

Booking information:

https://kidzania.co.uk/ / 0330 131 3333

ADULT NIGHTS

Friday 22 October, 7-11pm

Tickets from £35

“moving at breathless speed, the five performers take on a dazzling series of gender-switching roles… a Beyoncé-esque assertion of female power in the wartime…excellent performers… There are some big, blowsy shows around in the West End, but this little belter is staging its own audacious invasion plan” ★★★★★
Suzi Feay, Financial Times

“a miraculous musical that tells the entire story in a kind of accelerated farce that is part Mel Brooks, part SIX, part Hamilton with a side order of One Man, Two Guvnors.” ★★★★★

Neil Norman, Daily Mirror

“But whoof! It blew the roof clean off. Hoots and tears welcomed this ingenious, touching musical. Taut lyrics, vintage gags, a wild tale and tunes that followed me out into the night air, in hums and whistles. Perfection… An artisanal masterpiece” ★★★★★
Luke Jones, Daily Mail

“this is the musical you didn’t know you needed — until you see the expert cast of five embracing and racing through a clutch of preposterous yet endearing characters and musical styles, telling a story with delicious precision. Set firmly in the past, this is a little show with a very big future.”

David Benedict, Variety

Tickets for the January/February dates are on sale now here

Run: Friday, 14 January – Saturday, 19 February 2022

The year is 1943 and we’re losing the war. Luckily, we’re about to gamble all our futures on a stolen corpse. 

Following sold-out runs at the New Diorama Theatre in 2019 and Southwark Playhouse in 2020 and September 2021, Operation Mincemeat is back. Having spent lockdown rewriting the show, weeping and eating biscuits, SpitLip have extended the run of this newer, bigger and (somehow) even better version from 14 January through to 19 February 2022.

Singin’ in the Rain meets Strangers on a Train, Noel Coward meets Noel Fielding, Operation Mincemeat is the fast-paced, hilarious and unbelievable true story of the twisted secret mission that won us World War II. The question is, how did a well-dressed corpse wrong-foot Hitler? 

Operation Mincemeat won The Stage Debut award for Best Composer/Lyricist, the Off-West End award for Best Company Ensemble and was listed in the Observer’s Top 10 shows of the year.  

Commissioned by New Diorama Theatre, co-commissioned by The Lowry. Supported by the Rhinebeck Writers Retreat Additional support from Avalon. 

OPERATION MINCEMEAT

Written and composed by SpitLip.
SpitLip are David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoe Roberts.

Directed by Donnacadh O’Briain. Choreography by Jenny Arnold. Set and costume design by Helen Coyston. Lighting design by Sherry Coenen. Sound Design by Mike Walker.

Nottingham Theatre Royal – until Sunday 10 October 2021

Reviewed by Louise Ford

4****

Beautiful Briny Ballroom

The original 1971 Disney film is a family favourite. It was hard to imagine how it would be transferred to the stage with its mixture of magic,  flying beds, underwater scenes and cartoon animals . Well the power of theatre didn’t disappoint. The new musical based on the books by Mary Norton, adapted  by Brian Hill, with original songs by the Sherman Brothers and additional songs by Neil Bartram started its UK tour in August . It has been brought to the stage by theatre-makers Candice Edmunds and Jamie Harrison.

The stage is set with the brass bed with gleaming bedknobs in an attic bedroom . The Rawlings children (Charlie, Carrie and Paul) are reading a pop up book looked on by their parents. In the background there is the silhouette of St Paul’s and a London skyline. The peaceful scene is shattered by bombing and warplanes (cleverly manoeuvred around on handheld rods). The set is shattered as is the family to leave the Rawlings children orphaned.

The children are evacuated by train, from the city to the countryside. Alone at the post office in the village of Pepperinge Eye on the Dorset coast they await their fate . They are billeted to Miss Eglantine Price (Dianne Pilkington) who arrives to pick up her latest parcel from London. Miss Eglantine bursts on to the stage in a glorious outfit (tailored purple tweed two piece, a natty hat all with contrast gloves and trim), this contrasts nicely with the locals ‘brown’ outfits. The costumes (by Gabriella Slade) are a real treat. The knitwear worn by the children is fabulous!

The four of them leave the village on Miss Eglantine’s motorcycle and sidecar, toot toot!

Let the adventures begin. 

The story isn’t hard to follow and moves along at a reasonable pace. The fist half sets the scene for the action of the second half.  The ensemble performance when the family are back in London, meeting Emelius Browne (Charles Brunson) hunting down the missing spells of Portobello Road is a riot of colour, swirling handcarts and dance (choreographed by Neil Bettles).  

The second half starts underwater as the family journey to the Nopeepo Lagoon on their way to Nopeepo Land. The dance competition all sequins, swirling seaweed and handheld fish was my favourite scene.

The set design and illusions by Jamie Harrison are an absolute delight. From the quick set change, twirling doors, puppetry, sleight of hand magic to the flying broomstick (how did that happen?) and of course the flying brass bedstead (how did they do that?).

The adventures and magic cleverly distract from the Nazi threat and we have almost forgotten Miss Eglatine’s mission to magic a defence against this menace. Fear not once back on dry land there is a fine finale of magic. All’s well that ends well and the family are reunited and leave in the trusty motorcycle and side car!