Sherlock Holmes and the 12 Days of Christmas
Stephen Higgs reviews at Birmingham Rep
Cumberbatch, Miller, Ferell, Lee, Cushing, McKellen, Carlise, Downey Jnr and loads more. All people who have played Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, you can now add Humphrey Ker to that list! As he is the title character in the Rep’s production of Sherlock Holmes and the 12th Days of Christmas, playing until 18th January.
Before the show itself, we were treated to a host of Chrstmas Carols by the excellent School of Theatrical Excellence from Digbeth, that really set the mood.
This comedy whodunnit is penned by Fringe-favourites and comic geniuses, The Penny Dreadfuls’ Humphrey Ker and David Reed, with brand new songs by legendary musical theatre duo Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Some of you may be familiar with Ker as an award winning stand up comic, but I’d imagine he’s gathered a whole new audience from his role at Wrexham FC in the documentary. His foil, as always is David Reed’s Watson – that role itself taking centre stage at the moment in the American TV drama starring Morris Chesnut. Both of them are outstanding - Reed particularly .
So to the plot - Set in Victorian London, the play follows Sherlock Holmes as he races to solve a series of mysterious deaths linked to the classic carol The Twelve Days of Christmas. There’s festive cheer, musical mayhem, and a laugh-out-loud whodunnit for audiences aged 10 to 110. It’s not been marketing as a musical despite the big names on the billing, and with only 6 or 7 songs it’s isn’t - but the songs are very musical theatre and in keeping with the pantomime, music hall style of the production. I really enjoyed it, it’s very funny, charming, and silly.
John Kernes, who himself has a new standup show at the Town Hall in March is very funny at Lestrade, and Cameron Johnson deserves a mention in the role as Dame Arthur Stone, and Helena Wilson is great as Athena Faversham, but I could honestly write the name of everyone in it for a special mention, and include the band! The show itself in the first half is a laugh a minute, and in the second half is more than that! It's laugh out loud funny, the forth wall is broken a few times, and a few ad-libs as the cast forgot lines, and corpsed!
The set is incredible, the costumes are spectacular, and the performances stella.
It's a real treat, there's a few peformances that seems to be aimed at the school market, and I wonder if some of the jokes may need to be toned down for those, but it's a real hoot, a proper treat, and to be throughly recommended! Go and see Sherlock Holmes and the 12 Days of Christmas - it runs at the Rep until 18th January, and tickets are available here.