Original Streaming Musical ESTELLA SCROOGE: A CHRISTMAS CAROL WITH A TWIST Benefits More Than 50 US Theatres

More than 50 US theatre companies are benefitting from Estella Scrooge: A Christmas Carol with a Twist, an original streaming musical written and filmed during the pandemic, which focuses on the joys and responsibilities of common welfare and helping others.

Estella Scrooge was conceived by Tony and Olivier Award-winner John Caird (Les Misérables, Nicholas Nickleby) and Tony Award nominee Paul Gordon (Jane Eyre), who have created a hybrid between theatre, film and animation which has just been released to critical acclaim.

Estella Scrooge is produced by Michael Jackowitz of Witzend Productions, David Bryant and Michael Alden, in partnership with Streaming Musicals. Executive producers are Kevin Surace and for Streaming Musicals, Tom Polum and Stacia Fernandez. Co-Executive Producers are Jeffrey Grove, Allan Herzog and Dawn Smalberg/Bev Ragovoy.

Producer Michael Jackowitz of WitzEnd Theatricals commented, "Our creative and producing team have close ties to many US regional theatres. We are deeply concerned about the effect the pandemic has had on these non-profit organizations that depend on ticket sales of seasonal productions of A Christmas Carol for much of their annual income. We are thrilled to offer Estella Scrooge to them as a viable alternative."

Producer Michael Alden said, "We developed Estella Scrooge as a contemporary musical version of A Christmas Carol with a female lead with the hope for it to become a part of the holiday theatrical tradition. We were in preparation for a New York production when the pandemic hit, so we quickly decided to safely shoot the show using green screen technology and to offer it to national audiences as an on-demand streaming event."

Estella Scrooge, under an earlier title Little Miss Scrooge, was developed in part at Rubicon Theatre Company, where Jackowitz is Director of New Works, and at the Rhinebeck Writer's Retreat.

The producers of Estella Scrooge created a Theatre Affiliate program in which theatres receive 30% of sales of tickets with no risk or cost to the organization. The program encourages audience members to purchase access to Estella Scrooge through their local theatre company.

Following is a list of participating theatres:

ALASKA
Valley Performing Arts Wasilla

ARIZONA
The Phoenix Theatre Company Phoenix
Valley Youth Theatre Theatre Phoenix

CALIFORNIA
5 Star Theatricals Thousand Oaks
Burlingame Rotary Club Burlingame
Catch A Star Theatrical Players Beaumont
Jewel Theatre Company Santa Cruz
Laguna Playhouse Laguna Beach
New Village Arts Carlsbad
Mance Creative San Diego, Ca
Musical Theatre West Long Beach
Ned Pan Inc Nederlander/Hollywood Pantages/Broadway L.A. Hollywood
Ojai Art Center Ojai
PCPA Theaterfest Santa Maria and Solvang
Rubicon Theatre Ventura
Sunnyvale Community Players Sunnyvale
The Wallis Beverly Hills
Woodminster Amphitheatre (Producer's Associates, Inc) Oakland

CONNECTICUT
Legacy Theatre Branford
Seven Angels Waterbury

FLORIDA
Charlotte Players Inc Port Charlotte
Coral Springs Center for the Arts Coral Springs
Stageworks Tampa Tampa
Tampa Theatre Tampa

GEORGIA
Georgia Ensemble Theatre Roswell

HAWAII
Manoa Valley Theatre Honolulu

INDIANA
Towle Theatre Hammond

KENTUCKY
Norton Center for the Arts Danville

LOUISIANA
Jefferson Performing Arts Metairie

MASSACHUSETTS
New Repertory Theatre Watertown

MISSOURI
Alpha Players Florissant
American Theatre League Kansas City (and Nationally)

NEW YORK
Abingdon Theatre Company Astoria
Syracuse Stage Syracuse

OREGON
Actors Cabaret of Eugene Eugene
Oregon Contemporary Theatre Eugene

TEXAS
The Firehouse Theatre Farmers Branch

UTAH
Grand Theatre Salt Lake City
Pioneer Theatre Company Salt Lake City

WASHINGTON
Bellingham Theatre Guild Bellingham
Warehouse Theatre Company Yakima

WISCONSIN
Third Avenue Playhouse Sturgeon Bay

Theatres that still wish to participate or learn more about future offerings may go to www.estellascrooge.com/affiliate or call Karyl Lynn Burns at Rubicon Theatre Company at (805) 667-2912, ext. 224, or email her at klburns@rubicontheatre.org.

Estella Scrooge features a book by Tony Award winner John Caird (Les Misérabes, Nicholas Nickleby) and Tony Award nominee Paul Gordon (Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice), music and lyrics by Gordon and direction by Caird.

A modern day take on Charles Dickens' beloved 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, Estella Scrooge also wittily incorporates characters and plot lines from Dickens' other great novels, Great Expectations, Little Dorrit and Bleak House, among others.

Betsy Wolfe (Waitress) stars as Estella Scrooge, a descendent of her famous great great great great grandfather Ebenezer. Clifton Duncan (The Play That Goes Wrong) stars as Philip 'Pip' Nickleby. 2020 Tony Award nominee Lauren Patten (Jagged Little Pill) stars as Dawkins. The production also stars Tony Award nominees Patrick Page (Hadestown) as Mr. Merdle, Carolee Carmello (Parade) as Marla Havisham and Danny Burstein (2020 Tony Award Nominee, Moulin Rouge!) as Ebenezer Scrooge.

Estella Scrooge (Wolfe) is a young Wall Street tycoon with a penchant for foreclosing. A hotelier in her hometown of Pickwick, Ohio has defaulted on his mortgage and Estella fancies the idea of lowering the boom personally. Arriving at Harthouse on Christmas Eve, Estella discovers that the defaulting party is her childhood sweetheart, Pip Nickleby (Duncan). A good and generous soul, Pip has transformed the property into a refuge for the sick, dispossessed and homeless. A freak snowstorm forces Estella to take refuge. That night, just as it happened to her ancestor Ebenezer, she is haunted by three visitations...and oh, what uninvited houseguests they are!

The cast also includes Megan McGinnis (Little Women) as Betty Cratchit, Adam Halpin (Dear Evan Hansen) as Bob Cratchit, Sarah Litzsinger (Beauty and the Beast) as Sissy Jupe, Tom Nelis (The Visit) as Dedlock, Em Grosland (Emotional Creature) as Smike, Phoenix Best (Dear Evan Hansen) as Charity & Mercy, David Bryant (Original Marius in Broadway's Les Misérables) as Mr. Podsnap, Gabrielle Reid (Beautiful: The Carol King Musical) as Mrs. Pumblechook, Samuel Lee Roberts (Radio City Music Hall's Christmas Spectacular) as Mr. Flopson, Michael Francis McBride (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater) as Mr. Dombey, Michele Lee (Nutcracker Rouge) as Mrs. Noggs, Kristen Faith Oei (The King and I) as Ms. Skiffins, Meg Gibson (The Gabriels) as Molly, William Youmans (Wicked) as Magwitch & Bagstock, Kevyn Morrow (Moulin Rouge!) as Jasper Jaggers, Joziyah Jean-Felix (The Lion King) as Young Pip, Brooklyn Shuck ("Evil") as Young Essy and Willow McCarthy (The Ferryman) as Tiny Tammy.

Estella Scrooge features musical supervision by Brad Haak (Mary Poppins), choreography by Natalie Lomonte (Every Woman Biennial) and casting by Tara Rubin Casting (Dear Evan Hansen). Director of photography and editor is Tyler Milliron (StreamingMusicals' Pride and Prejudice), production art design is by Zach Wilson (Beauty and the Beast), costume design is by Somie Pak ("Mélange"), hair and makeup design is by Dena Olivieri (Forbidden Steps) and props design is by Katherine White (StreamingMusicals' Marry Harry).

Tickets are $29.99 for 72-hour viewing for each household, or $44.99 for a VIP Premium Theatre Experience, which includes unlimited viewings, a download of the cast recording and exclusive behind-the-scenes footage.

To purchase tickets through the affiliate program, go to the theatre websites or visit www.estellascrooge.com/affiliate. For other information about Estella Scrooge, go to www.estellascrooge.com.

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