Bronté Barbé and Declan Bennett head cast of Striking 12

Casting has been announced for the Off-Broadway musical Striking 12 at London’s Union Theatre this Christmas.

Bronté Barbé (The Wild Party, The Other Palace) and Declan Bennett (Jesus Christ Superstar, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre) will lead a cast that also includes Danielle Kassaraté (Dusty, Charing Cross Theatre), Kate Robson-Stuart (Once, New Wolsey Theatre/Queen’s Theatre) and Leon Scott (Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s Globe).

Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s story of The Little Match Girl, the production will begin previewing on 28 November ahead of an opening night on 3 December 2018. The production will run until 23 December.

Commenting on the production, the show’s director Oliver Kaderbhai said: “Striking 12 feels like the perfect Christmas show. It’s brilliantly witty and beautifully poignant with songs that evoke those classic American Christmas movies. We’ve got an incredible cast who’ll be providing the music too, and I’m extremely excited to see what we build in rehearsals together. Let’s see if we can capture just some of the essence of this magical season to present to our audiences each night, and make those dark winter nights a little brighter.”

Featuring a blend of pop, rock, and jazz, Striking 12 was created by the co-founders of American musical trio GrooveLily, Brendan Milburn and Valeria Vigoda working with Tony Award-winning librettist Rachel Sheinkin (The 25th Annual Spelling Bee).

Presented by Ben Lockwood, Rupert Henderson and Oliver Kaderbhai, the Union Theatre’s production of Striking 12 will be designed by Natalie Johnson with lighting design by Alex Lewer.

Angela Thomas