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Matinee: '150 Years of Christmas'
18 December 2021
Saturday matinees long ago let us escape from the ordinary world to the island of the Swiss Family Robinson or the mutinous decks of the Bounty. Why not, we thought, escape the usual fare here with Saturday matinees of our favorite photography films?
So we're pleased to present the 427th in our series of Saturday matinees today: 150 Years of Christmas.
We were going to play our silly card, the one that grants us permission to use our God-given right to be silly now and then, on this matinee but the more we thought about this particular video, the less silly it seemed.
You are in it, of course. A bit late. Coming through the door at the Royal Albert Hall in London to meet your date. Who just happens to be the British actress Bronté Barbé (who you might have seen on Call the Midwife).
She effuses an engaging mix of bossiness and charm. You eagerly follow her up the steps to your seats (what, you wanted orchestra seats for free?), grabbing a flute of champagne to toast Prince Albert and a few treats along the way, which just happens to accidentally run across members of the orchestra, the Royal Ballet School, Kansas Smitty's band and a few others.
It's all over in a minute (you really didn't give her much time and you even missed the carols) but it's a minute of absolutely marvelous fun.
Last year the event was canceled, of course, but it's on again this year. And long before anyone ever heard of Covid-19 (well, in 2017), Morten Eidal recorded the Christmas singalong at Royal Albert Hall:
So now you can see what all the fuss is about. And that it isn't silly at all. If you don't count all the Santa hats.