GREAT EXPECTATIONS to be Broadcast at Town Hall Theater, 4/5

The Brits have a long history of adapting their own great literature into spectacular plays and musicals. This season the talk of London is Great Expectations, a spectacular staging of Dicken's classic.

Great Expectations has never been produced for The West End or Broadway, widely believed to be too difficult to translate to stage. However, this Jo Clifford adaptation has been universally acclaimed as a triumph on its sellout tour of the UK ahead of its West End debut. The broadcast will include red carpet, arrivals and behind the scenes footage. Starring Jack Ellis as Jaggers and Paula Wilcox as Miss Havisham, with Chris Ellison as Magwitch, Paul Nivison as Adult Pip, Grace Rowe as Estella and Taylor Jay-Davies as Young Pip.

This is a Tim Burton-esque take on the story, eerie and always surprising, with a stunning set and even an onstage fire. The production pulls out all of the stops in creating Pip's journey through life.

The London press have hailed the production as a 5-star hit. The Times calls it "pure theater, inventive, physical and thrilling." The Telegraph raves about the "dream-like quality" of the production, and calls it a "striking piece of theatre."

The London production of Great Expectations will be broadcast at Middlebury's Town Hall Theater on Friday April 5, at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $17/$10 students, and may be purchased at www.townhalltheater.org, at 382-9222, at the THT Box Office (Mon-Sat, noon-5pm) or at the door.