Even though I’ve been lucky enough to visit the Pavilion Theatre on Cromer Pier before, when you arrive for a production with the sea crashing below, it never fails to thrill. Even more so in December, when the 500-seat theatre – the only venue in the world to produce a full-season, in-house end-of-pier show – twinkles with fairy lights for the annual Christmas variety show. Silhouetted against the inky black seascape, it looks as welcoming as you could wish for. 

The Cromer Christmas Show (and its Summer equivalent) has been running for many decades, yet it shows no signs of tiring. Indeed, I’d go so far as to say that the 2025 production feels fresher than ever; it is entertaining and energetic from start to finish or as my Mum, who came with me, said, ‘it was full of bounce’. The ensemble is small – just 11 in total – led by the treasure that is Olly Day, who returns to host the Show for his 16th consecutive year. He is genuinely funny (his is a warm, approachable humour) and has us all chuckling from the get-go, when he appears amongst the audience dressed as a parking warden, issuing tickets to latecomers. But… joke!  

And so begins two-and-a-half hours of merriment, with a 20-minute interval. Danny Lee Grew performs a series of magic tricks in his amusing, affable way; Norwich-based Trish Dunn is a mastermind of ventriloquism; and singers Caris Kerr and Robbie Vaughn can certainly belt out a tune (little wonder both graduated with First Class degrees in Musical Theatre). The six dancers’ synchronicity never misses a beat. But what I love is that everyone pitches in – Olly and Danny perform a comic sketch at Cromer FM, ‘coming at you from all directions’; the dancers can sing and the singers can dance; and Trish has excellent comic timing. And, importantly, they all look like they’re having a really great time as they take the audience from the circus Big Top to a Regency ballroom, by way of London’s rooftops and a 1950s bowling alley. Big numbers include Joseph & His Technicolour Dreamcoat (Olly impersonating Elvis is genius) and a fun ski slope-based finale.

An eight-metre video wall delivers an ever-changing backdrop. This year’s LED visuals are particularly enchanting, bringing a whole new layer to the Show – a highlight for me is the song-and-dance number dedicated to the ‘unsung heroes’ of the sea, with archive film footage of the RNLI lifeboat going out from Cromer and the fishermen who work so hard along this stretch of coastline. The backstage team – the lighting, the sound, Tsubi Du’s fantastic costumes, the producers Openwide Coastal – and front of house staff are integral in making this the heartwarming experience that it is. Musical Director Sir Nigel Hogg, who is brilliantly deadpan when Olly cracks jokes at his expense (the two go way back, having performed together for many years), is, as ever, fabulous. 

I’m hoping that we see Olly, Nigel and the team at next year’s Summer Show, which promises to be extra special, as it’s the 125th anniversary of the Cromer Pier Pavilion Theatre. The pier opened in 1901 with a simple bandstand hosting concert parties; it has since weathered storms and wars becoming the much-loved theatre it is today. As Olly reminds us during the Christmas Show, the Cromer Pier Pavilion Theatre and all those who come to see its light-hearted, nostalgia-filled, utterly unique annual shows are ‘keeping variety alive’. And we must continue.  

The Cromer Pier Christmas Show runs until 28 December, with tickets from £25

www.cromerpier.co.uk