Claus the Musical | "The Children" first listen

The cast has been unveiled for the wold premiere of Claus the Musical, which opens this winter at the Lowry in Salford.

The show, based on the L Frank Baum children’s classic The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, its adapted for the stage by Simon Warne, with music and lyrics by Andy Collier.

An origin story for the Christmas Eve crusader, Claus the Musical follows the young Santa after they are abandoned as a baby and raised by a wood nymph.

Kate Golledge directs, while the show has musical direction by Alex Beetschen, set and costume design by Stewart J Charlesworth, lighting by Aaron Dotson, casting by Jane Deitch, sound design by Andrew Johnson and choreography by Lucinda Lawrence. The piece is produced by Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment and co-produced by Jason Haigh-Ellery.

You can watch two numbers from the show, captured by Ben Hewis.

Appearing will be Georgie Buckland who will play Necile, Junior Delius (AK), Chris Draper (Will Knook), Jazz Evans (Awgwa), Jessica Lim (Shiegra), Mari McGinlay (Zurline), Alwyne Taylor (Narrator), Corrine Priest (The Fairy Queen) and Harry Winchester (Claus).

The ensemble cast includes Emily George, Michael Kholwadia, Nic Cain, Emily Tang and Simon Oskarsson.

Also on the creative team are Bianca Menegheli (costume supervisor), Alannah Egan (deputy stage manager), Lee Batty (production manager), Andy Fox (production manager), Gwenan Bain (assistant stage manager/ assistant director) and Jade Berg (wardrobe).