Last week we were invited to the famous Alexandra Palace in north London, to sample some of their festive events. Specifically, the children got to meet the main man himself (Santa), and we watched the first public showing of Pinocchio on Ice.
Alexandra Palace
This famous landmark, affectionately known as the Ally Pally, was built in 1873 and is now a Grade II listed building that offers incredible views over London. Originally built as The People’s Palace, it’s focus was on recreation, education and entertainment. It is probably most famous as being the home of the BBC from 1935, who broadcast the world’s first regular television service from there from 1936. There are BBC broadcasting artefacts on display in the East Court, which is where we headed.
Santa
We arrived just in time to be Santa’s last audience for the day. He had a good chat with the children; I couldn’t take a photo as it wasn’t allowed. However, a photographer pops in at the end to take a professional photo that you can purchase afterwards. Zoom in on Santa’s eyes and clenched fist in this photo … 🤣 I can only imagine he’d had a long, long day!
Refreshments and food concessions
Within East Court there were a range of refreshment options. Mom’s Hotdogs were very popular and they served up a pretty good flat white while we waited for the box office to open so we could collect our tickets.
If you had more time, a vintage food van was offering afternoon teas.
The children, however, had a bag of candy floss.
Near the entrance of the ice rink, in front of a beautifully decorated Christmas tree, there was a bar serving alcohol (and coffee).
Pinocchio on Ice
Confession: I’ve never been to any ‘on ice’ show before. I was keen to accept the invite to visit this one, for two reasons. Firstly, I’ve recently seen the film Last Christmas and there were scenes filmed on the Ally Pally ice rink, and I wanted to see it. Secondly, it’s a new Christmas experience. I should also point out that I’m not a fan of pantos.
We were shown to our seats; I expected it to be chilly, but I found myself taking layers off. So, on to the show. The story of Pinocchio was told through a cast of many skaters, ranging in age from the very young upwards. At times the skaters ran down the steps where we were seated in the stands – how they could run in skates, let alone down steps in often bulky costumes, was beyond me.
The show was mimed to pre-recorded voiceovers, and this took some getting use to. This also encouraged the skaters to exaggerate their actions/gestures; as a bah humbug panto hater, this did annoy me. However, the skaters were very good, with lots of skills being performed. There were lots of upbeat songs that got you tapping your feet along to, and there were lots of whoops and cheers from the audience.
It was very well done, but we did all agree that the whale looked more like a spaniel’s head!
The performance, with a 15 minutes interval, lasts about 2 hours.
Disclaimer
We were invited to visit Santa and Pinocchio on Ice in return for this unbiased review.
This sounds like so much fun, I love seeing ice shows