Review: THE MAGIC OF CHRISTMAS, Brick Lane Music Hall

Here is something no other theatre critic will tell you: music halls are possibly the greatest secret treats in London. Given the choice between, on the one hand, getting a second mortgage so I can sit in a West End theatre with the kind of legroom that Ryanair would consider beyond the pale or, on the other, taking the tube a few more stops and discovering some vaudeville treats, I know where I’d rather be.

Despite the best efforts of devotees of Kander and Ebb, modern cabaret didn’t start in a Weimar cellar. It owes its origins to these temple to mirth, music, and the sacred joy of vulgarity that attracted hundreds of thousands every weekend and were filled with folk who, in the Forties, would be more likely bombing the Germans, not entertaining them.

For those unfamiliar with these hallowed venues, these were the Netflix, the multiplex and nightclubs of the Victorian era. It was where you took your girl, where your mum pulled your dad and where you could see the hottest live talent around. With the arrival of moving pictures, the appeal of the venues faded for decades but not the acts that appeared there.

It was, after all, in music halls that a young Stan Laurel and Charlie Chaplin made people roar with laughter as part of Fred Karno’s comedy troupe, where acrobat Archie Leach wowed audiences before becoming Hollywood megastar Cary Grant, and where George Formby Sr and his window-cleaning son entertained with their witty numbers. Britain had talent long before Simon Cowell mercilessly monetised cabaret.

I started the week in Wilton’s Music Hall and here I am in another. While that venue and Hoxton Hall recently underwent multi-million programmes of repair and restoration, rising rents meant that Brick Lane was forced to move away from its original spot over to a former chapel in Silvertown.

Well, they say chapel. There must be churches in the UK smaller than this spacious joint which was full to the brim with coach parties and devoted locals on the Friday afternoon I was there. It seemed the only people missing were Santa and his reindeer.

Before the entertainment comes a three-course traditional Christmas lunch. My favourite course was the first. Tomato soup sounds as boring as it gets but this really is as good as it gets. Blazing red, pureed and sieved to within an inch of its life with no sign of pips or skin, the fresh flavour zings thanks to some generous seasoning and blitzed pieces of parsley. If I wasn’t in such polite company, I’d’ve licked the plate.

Brick Lane’s founder Vincent Hayes is still front and centre of what is a rip-roaring production full of variety, quality and cheeky laughs. He was awarded an MBE in 2013 for services to music hall, a just recognition of his ongoing contributions. Now a hearty 70-year-old, he shows no sign of stopping as evidenced by the vim and vigour with which he throws himself at an audience still in something of a post-prandial coma.

Musically, there’s nothing to complain about. The songbook criss-crosses the last half of the twentieth century with some choices albeit only for the faithful: Andrew Roble gives us a soulful take on “A Winter’s Tale”, a number so deeply dull that even David Essex has probably forgotten its lyrics. Alongside the other singers (Lucy Reed, Jake Lawrence, Charlotte Fage, Samantha McNeil, and Joe Payne), there are some scintillating set pieces that combine costume, choreography and top-notch vocals. Throw in a three-piece band and solo violinist Victoria Yellop with her background of entertaining the royal family and the troops and you have an all-round winning combination.

The comedy skits are generally of a decent quality. Hayes has no problem appearing in drag and his outfits range from a sugar plum fairy to a choirboy number. When he joins Roble for a holy poke at church antics (in a former chapel, no less) , prepare for an avalanche of nudges, winks and knowing chuckles. The audience lap it up and we all roll along. The only major misstep is Hayes’ nod to Cissie and Ada, the comedy drag act created by comedians Les Dawson and Roy Barraclough. Even when it first appeared in the Seventies, that routine was already deemed a little old hat, riffing as it was off Norman Evans in the 1950 film Over The Garden Wall. In 2025 — an era where drag is part of the zeitgeist — it seems positively prehistoric.

For those who like the sound of all this but prefer to spend Christmas nestled up next to a log fire or in front of the TV, Hayes puts on other variety shows during the year so keep an eye on the Brick Lane Music Hall website. 

The Magic Of Christmas continues at Brick Lane Music Hall until 19 December.