Perhaps the best thing about the press night of Little Miss Christmas was that, unlike many press nights, it started on the dot of 7:30 pm, and at 85 minutes, including 20 minute interval, did not outstay its welcome, except that one was left wondering that, if trimmed and played without an interval, it might well have been more enjoyable. We are told that “this festive extravaganza features tributes to Dance Moms, Drag Race, Little Miss Sunshine and more“.
It is basically a one-person show with Patti Boo Rae who is supposedly the only contender for the coveted “Candy Cane Crown”. She is therefore slightly annoyed when at the end of the first half, someone else who wishes to compete, Dwayne at the performance I saw, suddenly appears. He does an athletic dance after the interval but otherwise is ‘barely’ used.
The evening is divided into ‘live’ scenes with Patti (“makes you shiver with anticipation“), and pre-recorded video interludes (TJMov) whilst she changes from one costume to another. The best of these concerns Patti doing many ‘takes’ for a commercial for vegan Egg Nogg. At first this is amusing but then dragged out for far too long. Coggin Galbreath, Patti’s alter-ego, is responsible for the script. Years ago, stand-up comedians such as Ken Dodd, Bob Monkhouse, and Morecambe and Wise would pay teams of script writers to produce jokes and sketches for them, but these days, most seem to write their own material. This is fine if they have an ear for comedy, but not if they only think that they do, and, to be frank, Galbreath’s script seems to have no purpose. At times it is mildly amusing, and Patti works so hard that the audience smiles and occasionally breaks into quite laughter, more from pity than because what they are seeing and hearing is really funny! One feels that if only someone else had been asked to contribute to the cabaret it would have had much more life and humour.
Patti Boo Rae has a very attractive singing voice and the songs that she actually sings use backing tracks, but some of them are mimed to a vocal backing track, even some of her dialogue, which seems a mistake: singing is definitely her forte. The best moment is her supposed underwater singing, but even this seems rather tepid and is too long.
The press blurb promises “singalongs, audience interaction, quick changes, synchronized swimming” but they all seem rather half hearted as if the director, Ryan Hay, needed to inject some energy and motivation into the proceedings. At least strong language was kept to a minimum as was, surprisingly, the “camp” element.
Review by John Groves
Patti Boo Rae is a shoo-in for the coveted Candy Cane Crown, but this year she has some unexpected competition! With a new challenger from London’s iconic cabaret scene every night, Patti will have to pull out all the stops to defend her title: we’re talking live vocals, lip syncs, singalongs, audience interaction, quick changes, synchronized swimming!
And if all else fails, she might just have to fight dirty…
CAST
Patti Boo Rae as herself
CREATIVES
Ryan Hay – Director and Dramaturg
Coggin Galbreath – Writer
TJMov – Videographer
LITTLE MISS CHRISTMAS
Southwark Playhouse Borough
10 December 2025 to 3 January 2026
