Continuing the Festive Behind The Curtain interviews, Maddie Moate talks about her very own festive show for the young ones this festive period called Maddie Moate’s Very Curious Christmas
Can you tell us what ‘Maddie Moate’s Very Curious Christmas’ is about?
Absolutely. The show is a blend of all the different types of performances I’ve been involved with over the years. Some moments feel like a live science lesson, and others enjoy a bit of panto-style interaction! And the whole show is held together by a musical Christmas story with loveable characters.
The set-up is that I’m on work experience at Santa’s workshop, where I work alongside two elves. Tinker, the trainee toymaker and Goggles, Head of elf and safety. However, there’s a problem. The workshop is in chaos! It’s been a busy festive season, and everything is topsy-turvy. Tinker’s snow machine keeps blowing a gale, the cookie kitchen stinks of rotten egg, the crackers won’t bang, and the tree lights won’t sparkle. To make matters worse - Mrs Claus is checking in for an inspection, and she expects things to be spik and span. Thankfully, myself, the elves and the audience can help solve all the problems in the
workshop using science, curiosity, and a dash of Christmas magic!
With this show you are bringing science to the stage, without giving too much away, what can audiences expect?
There will be a few bangs (not TOO loud), smoke, fire and snow!
After the success of your book ‘A Very Curious Christmas’ what made you want to turn this into a stage show?
I enjoy learning new things and finding opportunities to delve deeper and ask ‘why?’. So, I was looking for a festive book of facts to help me understand the reasons why we do some of the things we do at Christmas, and I couldn’t find one! So, I spotted the opportunity to write that book! I found that readers enjoyed a slightly different approach to the subject of Christmas and I hope that the stage show will offer the same novelty. Interestingly, the book is original because it explores Christmas in a ‘non-fiction’ kind of way. The show is original because it takes facts and subjects from a non-fiction book and places them inside a fictional story.
What were the main challenges about creating the show from your book? And what did you enjoy the most?
The book is a collection of questions and answers, which create little bitesize chapters a reader can delve in and out of. The difference with a show is that I have to sustain an audiences attention for a full hour. So, I’ve taken some of my favourite chapters from the book and weaved them into a story with brand-new characters and lots of visual effects. I’d loved to have kept the books original characters, a yeti and a penguin. But they were incredibly tricky to cast…so I’ve replaced them with two elves.
You debuted your show ‘The Wonder Games’ in 2021, what have you learnt from your previous work that you are taking into this project?
I learned that audiences love to feel involved with a cast and feed off genuine relationships and authenticity on stage. The more an audience feels like they are part of the ‘gang’, the better. So, in this new show, I’m trying to give the audience as much autonomy as possible.
You are a Children’s TV Presenter, a YouTube filmmaker, a Writer and Producer, plus you have been on the stage in CBeebies Twelfth Night’, do you have a preference on what you do?
No preference! But I’d say that I am enjoying combining those roles at the moment. ‘Maddie’s Very Curious Christmas’ is giving me the chance to put science communication, social media, video production and theatre all into one project!
How did you get into the industry?
I started as a technology presenter and journalist on YouTube, which eventually led to me making a whole host of science and tech content for different brands, channels and audiences online. After a few years on YouTube, Cbeebies came along and asked if I’d be interested in presenting a children's TV show (Maddie’s Do You Know?) and the rest is history!
What would your advice be for young people wanting to get into the
industry?
Don’t wait for someone to give you an opportunity. Make your own content and give people a reason to want/need to use you over anyone else.
What are you most excited about for the show? And why should people come and watch?
I’m excited that it’s something new! I’ve never seen a science stage show set in a fictional, musical world before!
In one sentence or three words describe ‘A Very Curious Christmas’?
An interactive science show set in a magical, musical, festive wonderland!
Maddie Moate’s Very Curious Christmas plays at the Apollo Theatre in London from 6 December 2024 until 4 January 2025
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