We believe in Christmas – Junior Claus Musical by SRT

We have always been huge fans of SRT‘s productions. This time round, we were beyond thrilled to watch their latest Christmas Musical ‘Junior Claus‘ to usher in the year end school holidays and count down to the most anticipated holiday of the year – Christmas. The Little Company has taken all the familiar icons that children associate Christmas with – Santa, Reindeer, Presents, Elves etc and given it a brand new spin with a heartwarming twist.

When the curtains pulled apart, we were immediately drawn to the bright and beautiful sets on stage. The story began in icy North Pole where Santa and his family reside. There, as Junior Claus was busy with his creative inventions, a mini crisis was looming – children around the world are no longer believing in Christmas. If Junior Claus don’t do something fast, Santa would soon be put to eternal sleep and Grumpo the Greedy Elf would cancel Christmas forever. Junior did not believe he could rise up to the responsibilities as Santa and decided to run away from all the expectations. The belief-o-meter therefore hit an all time low and there was an audible gasp among the little audience. ‘Do something Junior! We don’t want Christmas to be gone forever!”

“I’m Santa’s only son. I’m supposed to take over and I dont even understand how Christmas magic works!”

While fending for himself out in the wilderness, Junior befriended a friendly and comical Penguin who helped him see the importance of family. With the help of his friends – Pengy the Penguin and cheeky Chipper the Elf, Junior snapped out of his insecurities, regained his self-confidence and returned to Santa-land to save Christmas.

Few things stood out in this play. The themes of self-belief, friendships and kinship resonated strongly and is a good reminder (to us parents) that we should give our children the room to grow and find their own dreams and footing. We all have moments of self-doubts but when what happens, our family (and best friends) will always be there to support us. We also like the interactive audience participation bit where children can do their part to keep the moving arrows of the large, lit-up belief-o-meter going upwards with their chants, ‘I believe in Christmas!’. The moving (mechanical) sleigh and accompanying ‘reindeer’ which Junior Claus rode on to deliver presents around the world kept the little ones transfixed. The musical ended with a heartwarming finale that included reunited family, falling snow and Christmas saved at last.

Junior Claus, presented by Singapore Repertory Theatre, runs until Sunday 14 Dec 2014. We’ll recommend it to all families with kids 5-10 years old. Watch it together to ring in the Christmas cheer!