Long-time friends and actors Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer begin a 15-city tour of A Royal Christmas Dec. 3 at the USB Arena in Cincinnati, OH.
Andrews and Plummer — who starred in the legendary "The Sound of Music" film and who recently reunited for a TV remake of "On Golden Pond" — will be joined by young soprano Charlotte Church as well as a whopping 150 dancers, singers and musicians. This new holiday spectacular will feature the season's most popular songs and carols, holiday tales as well as excerpts from the famed "Nutcracker" ballet. Stage veterans Andrews and Plummer will serve, respectively, as the Mistress and Master of Ceremonies.
At press time, there was still no word as to whether Andrews — who famously sued doctors after an operation on her vocal cords left her unable to sing — would be doing any singing during the concert, although there have been rumors that the Academy Award-winner would offer a few notes.
Billed as one of the "largest holiday extravaganzas ever produced," A Royal Christmas will also include London's Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, conducted by George Daugherty; the Westminster Concert Choir; the Westminster Bell Choir; principal and solo dancers from London's Royal Ballet, Winnipeg's Royal Ballet, Russia's Bolshoi Ballet, Ukraine's Kyiv Ballet and the Shumka Dancers.
The complete tour schedule for A Royal Christmas follows: Dec. 3 at the USB Arena in Cincinnati, OH
Dec. 4 at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, MI
Dec. 6 at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, PA
Dec. 7 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, MI
Dec. 8 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH
Dec. 10 at the John LaBatt Centre in London, ONT
Dec. 11 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, ONT
Dec. 12 at the Corel Centre in Ottawa, ONT
Dec. 14 at the Dunkin' Doughnuts Center in Providence, RI
Dec. 15 at the Fleet Center in Boston, MA
Dec. 16 at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, NY
Dec. 17 at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA
Dec. 18 at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, NY
Dec. 20 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, FL
Dec. 21 at the Office Depot Forum in Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Julie Andrews became a star on Broadway — in My Fair Lady, The Boyfriend and Camelot — before becoming an international star in such films as "Mary Poppins" and "The Sound of Music." Andrews played opposite Christopher Plummer in the latter. Plummer's Broadway credits include J.B., Cyrano, Othello, No Man's Land and Barrymore. He won Tony Awards for his performances in both Cyrano and Barrymore. In 2002, he starred as King Lear in the towering Shakespeare tragedy at the Stratford Festival in Canada. Stratford was an early career stomping ground for the Toronto native; 2002 marked the 50th season of the fest.
Soprano Charlotte Church has often been compared to the early work of Julie Andrews. Church has performed in concert halls around the world, and her recordings have sold more than 10,000,000 copies.
—By Andrew Gans
