It's December and it's time for something more Christmassy!
You already know that I love penguins – but what you may not be aware of is that also really like musicals. And when you combine the two into a 'penguin musical', I basically see it as a huge sign saying 'this is a must-have'. Which brings us to the brand new children's musical book Barry the Penguin's Black and White Christmas. The musical book – meaning it comes with the whole story as a full-cast audio CD as well – is adapted by Rachel Bellman and Lesley Ross, from the original stage musical of the same name by Lesley Ross and John-Victor. The great illustrations are by Matt Rowe.
The story centres on Phoebe Foster, a teenager who has stopped believing in Santa Claus and hates Christmas. But then Barry arrives to the scene. As a penguin detective, Barry is on the quest to save Santa Claus before the midnight strikes – or the Christmas will be destroyed forever. And it seems Phoebe is the only one who can help Barry and save Christmas from the clutches of the evil Bedbug Queen. That is, if she only believed in Santa Claus again.
What results is a wacky and hilarious romp from one end of the world to another, involving evil bedbugs, Santa's elves, a bazooka-carrying nun all the other great things proper modern fairytales are made of. The story moves on with a fast-yet-not-frantic pace, all accompanied by great pop-musical songs. There are no duds here, with every song fitting the story and they stay on topic. My personal favourite is, of course, "Follow the Penguin", which might as well be my new theme song.
The songs are great and so are the performances. Roles of Phoebe and Barry are performed by Kate Hume and Haydn Oakley – and they are spot on brilliant. Santa Claus is played by Ricardo Afonso, while Kerry Ellis makes great villainess as the Bedbug Queen.
But you know, even though as a penguin musical this was a must-buy as-is, I have to admit that two members of the cast brought this production to my attention. First up there is Louise Jameson playing the part of the afore-mentioned bazooka wielding nun – and she of course is familiar to us Whovians as both Leela of Savateem and more recently as a director and writer for Big Finish.
And the other actor? That's Christopher Eccleston – my first Doctor – narrating the entire book. While as a Big Finish fanboy I've gotten used to Louise Jameson giving a great audio performance – and this is no exception – hearing Eccleston doing audio/vo stuff works fantasticly. In fact I'm sure I'm now going to try and find some of his past radio plays and narrations.
So, if you'd like to experience a whimsical musical fairytale about a penguin detective, beautifully illustrated and with a magnificent cast with Whovian connections, here it is. It's great fun – I highly recommend it!
Barry the Penguin's Black and White Christmas is available at Perfect Pitch website – and it would make a great gift to penguin-lovers of all ages!
