The Old Joint Stock Theatre in Birmingham has announced its Christmas production for 2025 — It’s a Wonderful Knife – Christmas Dundee — a brand-new musical mash-up inspired by It’s a Wonderful Life and the most-watched Christmas Day film in UK history, Crocodile Dundee.
Running from 3rd to 30th December, this original festive comedy promises a wild ride down under, complete with big musical numbers, celebrity cameos, and a tap-dancing crocodile in Crocs.
Set on Christmas Eve, the story follows Hollywood icon Paul Hogan, who is grappling with the loss of his on-screen companion, Burt the crocodile. As Paul questions his life’s worth, Burt is sent back to Earth to show him the impact he’s had — and maybe earn his wings in the process.
Audiences can expect appearances from Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hugh Jackman, and plenty of Aussie-flavoured holiday cheer.
Artistic Director James Edge said:
“After two years of producing UK Premiers of fantastic lesser known contemporary shows and expanding to well known cult favourites, the Old Joint Stock is extremely excited to now be producing two brand new musicals this Christmas, with our first announcement being ‘It’s a Wonderful Knife – Christmas Dundee’. There’s always been the fun dialogue about whether Die hard was a christmas film, well when Crocodile Dundee was released on the BBC christmas day 1989 it was viewed by 21.8 million people making it the single most viewed Christmas day film in the United Kingdom. So how did we tie this in and make it into a Christmas show? You’ll have to buy a ticket and find out.”
The creative team includes composer Adam Gerber, producer Emily Susanne Lloyd, musical director Callum Thompson, and marketing director Liam Alexandru. Artwork is by Tom Mann of Ghostlight Studios. The full creative team is yet to be announced.
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
