Finally got to see it, last night by the fireside with the Christmas Eve hot port, after the carols from King's finished. Kate only appeared once earlier in the show, where Lesley chatted with her for a minute and then she sang (can't remember its exact title) a song about servant girls being given only one day off in the whole year, that being Christmas. She was accompanied by some sensitive button accordion playing - don't know his name but he got it exactly right - and it was a lovely number, but the mics were balanced wrong and you couldn't hear the vocal clearly enough. Her line should have been front and center but was mixed too far back.

I think this was probably the cause of Kate's later apparent discomfort, that with someone singing harmony as well as brass and accordion in the background, she just couldn't hear properly. I noticed one (and only one) small slip in intonation, and from the look on Kate's face I think she noticed it too. But then, Lesley went out of tune (also only once) much more dramatically when she tried a high harmony and shouldn't have. Overall, I thought the duet worked amazingly well. Lesley resisted the impulse to blast everyone else off stage with sheer volume, as opera singers can and too often do, and she matched her tone to Kate's quite nicely, with only a few swan dives into her "classical" sound (and it would have been better without). Sweet Chiming Bells is a stunning song, and I thought the ensemble accompaniment was beautifully played - always loved the combination of reeds and brass (plus harp!). I had expected the worst so I was pleasantly surprised.

OK, hands up - how many of you who "only caught the last bit" of this show were REALLY tuning in to watch "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" ?! ;-) (Go on, admit it...) Great film, that -

My best wishes to everyone for the holiday season