Reviewing My Christmas Orchestral Adventure at Royal Albert Hall!
London is magical at Christmas, and Royal Albert Hall must be one of the most festive venues to visit! We have previously been there for Santa's Grotto, and this Christmas we first viewed the My Christmas Orchestral Adventure . My Christmas Orchestral Adventure is an annual Christmas concert hosted at Royal Albert Hall. It has a loose storyline and uses a full symphony orchestra, and is geared towards families with young children. It was a very relaxed and fun event, and I'm glad I got to review My Christmas Orchestral Adventure concert on my blog!
What is My Christmas Orchestral Adventure at Royal Albert Hall?
My Christmas Orchestral Adventure is a musical story of Father Christmas losing his way and it is told through a story-teller, the conductor and musical pieces. There is plenty of humour included, lots of funny moments, and a full symphony orchestra demonstrates things such as ice-skating, riding in a sleigh and even snow fall through the use of musical pieces. This is a family event and suitable for young children especially.
Review of the My Christmas Orchestral Adventure
In the show the conductor and the story-teller led the story of Father Christmas losing his way, and finding back home. They engage with the audience, and plenty of interaction and jokes fly around. The atmosphere is rather jokey and jovial.
In years past they have invited a child from the audience to help the conductor, but this year they just led the children in the Arena-area for a short walkabout the seating area. I have to say it was rather chaotic with toddlers running off to join the mini-parade and their nervous parents trying to jump over seats to catch them, and I'm not sure they will repeat that again! Kids seemed to enjoy it nonetheless. Anyway, I'm not a massive fan of any shows that choose one child from an audience as it can leave some kids feeling left out and it isn't particularly interesting for the rest of the audience - I'd rather the show just went on normally! So hopefully in the future the interaction is more about the whole concert hall.
The humour and interaction from the story-teller and conductor was great. It made the atmosphere feel relaxed. Audience was invited to stand up and join dancing, which worked really well with young children. Those movement breaks are so important and get them enjoying the experience. We parents definitely enjoyed dancing in our seats and joining in on singing too!
The concert hall is lit up beautifully. It really is stunning and pictures don't quite do it justice. I was really mesmerised by the lights and the "snow fall" and it made it feel like a very magical place. Very very festive! It got us feeling very Christmassy in a slightly strange year and after a long long grey weather.
Overall, this was one of the top Christmas experiences we have had in London. It got us on a festive mood and we left Royal Albert Hall smiling and full of Christmas joy. I definitely recommend this experience to any family that enjoys music and Christmas!
What are the best seats for My Christmas Orchestral Adventure?
In terms of sound, the whole concert hall should be fantastic. In terms of views and the feels, there are of course differences.
We sat at the Stalls directly facing the stage, which gave a fantastic view over the whole concert hall and the lights. The lights especially looked stunning as you got to admire the whole hall without craning your neck, but it may feel a little bit further away from the orchestra. You can't for example see the facial expressions on stage much. Arena feels like it is closer to the action and the characters on stage, but you might not get the whole twinkling light show experience quite as strongly there.
What to wear at My Christmas Orchestral Adventure?
Most families wore comfortable casual clothes, and Christmas jumpers and various Christmas headgear was very popular! A smaller section of families wore fancier outfits, like finer dresses you might typically see at an evening opera. I think it is up to you - I personally would wear a Christmas jumper or otherwise a casual outfit as to me it felt like a very relaxed and active experience with us getting off our seats and dancing.
What to do after visiting Royal Albert Hall?
You could either:
- Walk up through Hyde Park to Winter Wonderland. Mind you, you have to pre-book your tickets there nowadays, and it gets very busy at dusk so family visits are better in the mornings. See here for my tips for families at Winter Wonderland!
- Visit Natural History Museum, Science Museum or Victoria & Albert Museum, which are just 5 minute walk away. See here my thoughts about Science Museum and why it is such a fun place to visit with kids!
- You could walk past Kensington Palace and go to the Diana Memorial Playground in Kensington Gardens. This is a very popular playground and may involve some waiting!
- Alternatively, walk to Hyde Park and east towards Knightsbridge and visit Hyde Park Playground before popping by the nearby Harrods for a gander through the Christmas windows.
Would I recommend My Christmas Orchestral Adventure at Royal Albert Hall?
Absolutely - I think My Christmas Orchestral Adventure was a fantastic event for families. It was perfect for families with young kids with built-in interaction and moving breaks. It was fun and creates enthusiasm in kids towards music. Finally, it had such an amazing Christmas atmosphere and the lights were stunningly beautiful For us it has been one of the best Christmas experiences we have had in London and one we will be sure to repeat in the future!
Royal Albert Hall also has lots of other musical and theatrical events at Christmas, which look inviting - Nutcracker for example is one Christmas tradition worth checking out... We have been to see Santa there and will go back to it again, so that is another thing worth booking for!
Have you been to Royal Albert Hall yet?
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