Thursford set to dazzle Christmas audiences all over again
The countdown is on.....there are only three weeks remaining before the curtain goes up on this year’s Thursford Christmas Spectacular, that Norfolk phenomenon that has become a seasonal legend.
Rehearsals are now in full-swing for the show that has become one of the biggest Christmas celebrations in Europe.
And one of the claims of the production team is that you wouldn’t see the like of it in London’s West End.
From the opening performance on November 6 until December 23, the twice-daily shows are unfolded across a 100-plus wide stage in a large shed in the middle of a field deep in the North Norfolk countryside.
In six weeks, the auditorium, which for the rest of the year houses the equally-famous Thursford Steam and traction engine museum, is transformed into a wonderland of stunning decorations and millions of twinkling fairy lights.
Over the “Thursford season” fleets of coaches from all over the country will converge on the narrow winding country road, off the A148 Cromer road, near Fakenham, as people flock into the magical world that founder and executive producer John Cushing has created in the organ and traction engine museum created by John’s late father, George Cushing.
John Cushing will celebrate his 80th birthday at the end of November and his boundless enthusiasm for the Christmas “product” is as fresh today as it was back in 1977 when the first Thursford event - a Carol concert featuring choristers from King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, was presented.
For John, it is Christmas all year round as he devises each year’s tour-de-force of music, song and dance which cleverly fuses the sacred and the secular.
Over three hours fast-paced colourful dance routines, orchestral interludes and speciality acts (plus a few surprises for the 2019 version) will create the feel-good factor among the thousands of adults and children who are captivated by the sheer magic of it all.
This year will see the 43rd Thursford Spectacular and some of the statistics behind the show are staggering.
Audiences devour 37,000 tubs of ice cream during the show’s run and in one number alone, dancers are dressed with 1,000 ostrich feathers and more than 1,000 rhinestones.
As to the future, John says that now his two sons, George and Charlie, are involved at managerial levels future its long-term future is secure for a new generation of audiences set to become enthralled by the magical world of a Thursford Christmas.
Some dates are already sold out but, to check availability until December 23, call the box office on 01328 878477.
