Stars including Maria Friedman, Denise Van Outen, Clive Rowe, Fiona Shaw and Stephen Mangan are to guest appear in Sandi Toksvig’s Christmas Cracker at the Royal Festival Hall this month.
The family variety show, which is hosted by Toksvig and Ronnie Corbett, will feature a line-up of familiar faces from the worlds of music, magic and comedy, all of whom will provide entertainment on specific dates during the show’s run from 15 to 24 December.
Multi Laurence Olivier Award-winner Friedman will guest-sing on certain dates in the first half of the show, as will West End regulars Van Outen and Rowe, and singers Barb Jungr and Sarah Connolly.
The second half features a comic romp through Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, in which an eclectic assortment of familiar faces will alternate in the role of Scrooge. Actors Mangan (The Norman Conquests) and Shaw (Mother Courage And Her Children), broadcasters John Humphrys and Jon Snow and entertainer Lionel Blair will all play the famous curmudgeon.
The variety show will also feature, on certain dates, the vocal talents of Voicelab and the London Gay Men’s Chorus, as well as street dance group and Britain’s Got Talent winners Diversity.
Sandi Toksvig’s Christmas Cracker forms part of the Southbank Centre’s festive programming, which also includes Into The Hoods at the Queen Elizabeth Hall and quick-change artist Ennio Marchetto in the Purcell Room.
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