CHRISTMAS ACTUALLY
THE ULTIMATE CHRISTMAS VARIETY SHOW
Southbank Centre, London
7th to 11th December 2023
Senbla Live Events
Services provided by The Music Agency
Orchestral Contractor
A feast for all the senses, this witty and enchanting evening captures all the fun and laughter of Christmas through a treasure trove of entertainment, as a starry line-up, including Flo & Joan and Miriam-Teak Lee, performs live music, Christmas stories, poetry and comedy.
With the curation of the writer behind Notting Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral, this is a night of collective merriment celebrating exactly what makes this time of year so special.
Actor and writer Sanjeev Bhaskar gained notoriety as creator and performer of the BBC hit series Goodness Gracious Me. His film roles have included It’s a Wonderful Afterlife, London Boulevard and The Zero Theorum.
Bhaskar led the cast in the BAFTA Award-winning television series Indian Doctor and has also appeared in the West End as King Arthur in Eric Idle’s Spamalot. He wrote and starred in The Kumars at No. 42 which had global success winning two Emmys, a BAFTA nomination, a British Comedy Award and the Bronze Rose at Montreaux.
In 2007, Bhaskar embarked on a highly personal journey through modern India with the BBC to commemorate 60 years of Indian independence. His accompanying travel book became a Sunday Times bestseller.
Since then, Bhaskar has starred in ITV’s Unforgotten, now on its sixth series. He has a returning role in the DC Comics series Sandman for Netflix and returns as Dr Jafri in Paddington in Peru (2024).
Actor and comedian Jayde Adams holds the title of the ‘third funniest woman in the world. Fact,’ as endorsed by Dawn French. Adams has taken the spotlight in BBC Two’s double BAFTA-winning series Alma’s Not Normal and the Take That movie Greatest Days, in addition to appearing in BBC’s The Outlaws and Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens. Furthermore, she is the co-creator and titular character of the upcoming ITV sitcom, Ruby Speaking.
Adams was the winner at the prestigious Funny Women awards and shortly after gained a nomination for the coveted Edinburgh Fringe Best Newcomer award, since then she’s impressively steered her career to new heights. This multifaceted journey includes hosting her own Netflix food show with Heston Blumenthal, Crazy Delicious, a BAFTA-nominated venture Snackmasters with Fred Siriex on Channel 4, and competing in Strictly Come Dancing in 2022.
Prior to this, Adams recorded her inaugural Amazon Prime special, Serious Black Jumper, which amassed 200 million views worldwide, and was named on the Emmy long list in The Hollywood Reporter.
Flo & Joan are the multi-award winning musical comedy duo, and sisters, Nicola and Rosie Dempsey. The piano/percussion pair have headlined and played to sold-out audiences across the UK, North America and Australia including festival appearances at Glastonbury, Latitude, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and JFL Montreal Comedy Festival. Their hour-long special is now streaming in over 200 countries on Amazon Prime.
A hugely acclaimed live act, Flo & Joan’s last show Sweet Release was their fifth full-length show and their most critically and commercially successful show to date. Totalling 148 performances, the tour was twice-extended and also included runs at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
The pair have had high-profile television appearances on Live at the Apollo (BBC2), The Royal Variety Performance (ITV), Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day (BBC1), Jonathan Ross’ Comedy Club (ITV) and The Russell Howard Hour (Sky) and their songs regularly go viral online, amassing over 75 million views across social media.
Musical theatre star Miriam-Teak Lee was recognised for her work creating the role of Juliet in &Juliet with an Olivier Award, a WhatsOnStage Award and Black British Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Musical.
She was also part of the original West End cast of Hamilton (Victoria Palace), and had a standout role in On the Town (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre) which marked her professional debut and earned her the Best Actress in a Musical prize at the 2017 Stage Debut Awards.
Lee’s musical talents have also been showcased in LMTO’s A Christmas Carol at The Lyceum Theatre and as a soloist in The Ljubljana Music Festival with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra. She trained at the Arts Educational Schools London and The Morgan Aslanoff Dance School.
A Senbla and Roast Productions presentation. Senbla and Roast Productions will donate a proportion of proceeds from the show to Comic Relief.