Griff Rhys Jones will star as Ebenezer Scrooge in this year’s London Musical Theatre Orchestra’s concert staging of Alan Menken, Lynn Ahrens and Mike Ockrent’s A Christmas Carol.
Now firmly established as one of the highlights of the festive season following sold-out performances in 2016 and 2017, LMTO’s version of the 1994 Broadway musical reworking of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is due to return to the Lyceum Theatre on 10 and 17 December. An extra performance, at 4pm on 17 December, has been added in response to high demand.
Jones will star alongside Lucie Jones (Legally Blonde, Rent) as Emily/The Ghost of Christmas Future; Miriam-Teak Lee (Hamilton, On the Town) as The Ghost of Christmas Past; Cedric Neal (Chess, Motown) as The Ghost of Christmas Present; Rosemary Ashe (The Witches of Eastwick, The Phantom of the Opera) as Mrs Fezziwig; and Nicolas Colicos (The Producers, The Bodyguard) as Mr Fezziwig. Further casting will be announced soon.
LMTO founder Freddie Tapner said: “Griff Rhys Jones has long been a hero of mine, and so to have him coming to play Scrooge is incredibly exciting. I can’t wait to see what he does with the role – and in a first for LMTO, audiences now have three chances to see him in action. Bring on the 10 December and those opening chords of the Overture.”
Griff Rhys Jones added: “Dickens made a huge impact on our whole idea of Christmas with his little book A Christmas Carol. It has justly been a favourite ever since and this is a brilliant and moving musical version. I am working alongside a talented and enthusiastic group of performers and musicians who make up the London Musical Theatre Orchestra. I’m very much looking forward to going on that uplifting journey that Scrooge takes on that fateful Christmas Eve and hope people will enjoy the concert as much as we will enjoy performing it.”
Shaun Kerrison will return to direct the popular production with sound design by Nick Lidster and Avgoustos Psillas and lighting design by Mike Robertson. The concert is executive produced by Clive Chenery for LMTO and general managed by Peter Huntley for Smart Entertainment.
Based on Dickens’ timeless tale of Scrooge and his ghostly visitors, the show features music written by Tony, Olivier and eight-time Academy Award winner Alan Menken, with lyrics by Tony Award winner Lynn Ahrens (Ragtime) and a book by Drama Desk Award winner Mike Ockrent (Me and My Girl) and Ahrens.
A Christmas Carol was presented annually in New York from 1994 until 2003 with some of the biggest names in entertainment including F. Murray Abraham, Tim Curry, Jim Dale, Frank Langella, and Roddy McDowell who all took on the central role of the ultimate Christmas killjoy. The production was adapted for television in 2004 with Kelsey Grammar as Scrooge and Jason Alexander as Jacob Marley.
The LMTO’s A Christmas Carol is the final production in a successful 2018 season which included concert versions of Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot at the London Palladium, Martin Smith’s King at the Hackney Empire and last Howard Goodall’s Girlfriends at The Bishopsgate Institute.
Angela Thomas
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