Richie & Steele Double up for Xmas Scrooge???

And speaking of festive treats for later this year, Scrooge is shaping up for a double-header this Christmas. Shane Richie (now a familiar TV face for EastEnders) is already signed up to take on the miserly title role in Leslie Bricusse's musical retelling of Charles Dickens' literary classic A Christmas Carol for a limited run at the Bristol Hippodrome in December and January. At the same time, former rocker Tommy Steele is again tipped to make his West End comeback in the role (See The Goss, 23 Jul 2003), which he’s performed on tour and for the past two Christmases (at Birmingham in 2003 and Manchester in 2004). A pop chart-topper in the 1950s, Steele went on to become one of Britain's best known all-round entertainers. In 1963, he had a hit in the West End with the musical Half a Sixpence, which he later starred in on Broadway and in the the 1967 Hollywood film version. Steele's other big successes have included: on screen, Finian's Rainbow, The Happiest Millionaire and The Tommy Steele Story; and on stage, Singin' in the Rain and Hans Christian Andersen.

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