IT HAD colour, songs, Father Christmas, of course, and Rudolf and the cast gave it plenty of wellie, but somehow Santa Claus - the Musical at the Liverpool Empire didn't work. It must have seemed a good idea but no-one thought it through. The result was too slow and muddled for the kids, who got restless, and too banal for the grown-ups, who got bored. Well, this one did. The action was at the North Pole where Santa, actor Roy Barraclough indiscernible beneath vast red velvet padding and white whiskers, skipped about getting ready for delivery day while wicked ice queen, Susie Blake fresh from her role as Bev in Corrie, tried to put a stop to such happiness. Suspended on a glittering swing wandering high above stage, and at one point off stage, she had her own problems. Finally grounded, she made a fair fist of the job but the boos were uncertain. Such were the failings of story and sound, the kids weren't sure she was a baddie! In the plot was a lonely little girl wanting her dead dad back, Santa's officious assistant Ms Drift moving things along, Rudolf and his mates coping with flatulence and flu, chief elf Joe coming to the rescue and finding romance, and three calypso crows singing on the rooftop. While the songs were unmemorable, the show had some great dancing and Santa's elves, youngsters from the Elliott Clarke School, were splendid. * Santa Claus The Musical runs at the Liverpool Empire until January 7. | 
