Well, it's with a heavy heart (and a heavy stomach) that I write this as Christmas is now over and that means that our tour has now come to an end. But what a lovely finish to the tour it has been!
Our last shows were in Essex at Little Haven and Haven House Hospice. There was a warm welcome at Little Haven as we waited for the families to arrive and plenty of Christmas cheer for the team. Benson had eaten far too much turkey and chocolate over the Christmas break so he was more than ready to start out on his adventures again, and I think team Harry were excited to dance off a few or the mince pies that had been consumed. The highlight from Little Haven was when one of the excited audience (a 3-year old little girl) decided to help Eskimo and Benson and walked around the stage whilst we were performing, collecting all the prop snowballs for us, while Benson tried to find his letter! It was then a fond farewell to Katie as we headed home, as it was Stacey who would play the role of Actor 2 in our final show (Katie and Stacey had been sharing this role for the duration of the tour).
Our last show was in Haven House and what a beautiful place it was! As we drove through the wood, the road was pathed with lamp posts that looked like a scene straight out of Narnia. This show was enjoyed by an intimate audience, but the carers and children sang along and my highlight was 'Twinkle, Twinkle little star' in which we managed to get the whole room blacked out so our coloured finger light stars could shine to full effect. It was simply magical. It was this moment that I took the time to reflect on all the children (and grown-ups) that we had the opportunity to bring joy to this Christmas time.
It has been a privileged to work for Christmas 4 Kids and I am excited to hear about the plans for the new musical adventure for 2018.
Happy New Year all!
Marian x