Photo Flash: First Look at Rebecca Ann Johnson and More in Rubicon's LITTLE MISS SCROOGE

Tony and Olivier Award-winner John Caird (LES MISERABLES and Nicholas Nickleby), West End rising star Sam Caird, and Tony nominee Paul Gordon (Jane Eyre) recently arrived in Ventura to begin rehearsals for a new holiday musical entitled LITTLE MISS SCROOGE, which will be presented as a limited-run staged concert for Rubicon Theatre subscribers, December 12 through 23, 2012. (The fully staged World Premiere will be produced by Rubicon in December of 2013.) BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast onstage in the photos below!

LITTLE MISS SCROOGE is a modern musical version of A Christmas Carol with added characters and plot elements from "Great Expectations," "Nicholas Nickleby," "The Old Curiosity Shop," and other great Dickens novels. The story follows Estella Scrooge, a direct descendent of Ebenezer -- a cool and calculating Wall Street whiz who runs a mortgage and lending company (Bleak House). Essie can't convince Betty Cratchit or other employees to work on Christmas Eve, so she is forced to go to Pickwick, Ohio personally to shut down the Harthouse Hotel, a poorly run (in her estimation) haven for the lost, lonely and dispossessed.

Her intentions to foreclose, however, are forestalled by her childhood history with the attractive proprietor Phillip (Pip) Nickleby, and by the arrival of a snowstorm. Trapped for the night, Essie is visited by three eccentric ghosts representing the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future who, well...give her the Dickens. Part love story, part ghost story - LITTLE MISS SCROOGE is a testament to Charles Dickens' passionate commitment to social reform and his belief in the power of human kindness and generosity.

The staged concert of LITTLE MISS SCROOGE features a cast of fifteen extraordinary actors, many of whom double and triple in their roles, backed by a five-piece musical ensemble lead by Music Arranger and Supervisor, Music Director and Conductor Brad Haak (currently conducting Mary Poppins on Broadway).

LITTLE MISS SCROOGE begins December 12 with performances Wednesdays through Sundays through December 23, 2012. The opening gala is Saturday, December 15 at 7:00 p.m. All performances are at Rubicon Theatre Company, 1006 E. Main Street in Ventura's Downtown Cultural District. Returning Rubicon subscribers received tickets as a part of their subscription and a limited number of prime seats are being held for new season ticket holders. A few additional single tickets remain and may be purchased subject to availability by calling (805) 667-2900 or visiting the Rubicon website at www.rubicontheatre.org.

Photo Credit: Jeanne Tanner

Rebecca Ann Johnson as Estella Scrooge

Rebecca Ann Johnson (Pippin, Children of a Lesser God, Zanna Donâ€t, â€œThe Middle,â€? â€œCommunityâ€?) as Estella Scrooge and Stuart Ambrose as Phillip â€œPipâ€? Nickleby

Rebecca Ann Johnson as Estella Scrooge and Alexandra Frohlinger as Jenny Trent

Rebecca Ann Johnson as Estella Scrooge

Amanda McBroom as Marla Havisham / Molly and Rebecca Ann Johnson as Estella Scrooge.

Sarah Litzsinger as Betty Cratchit / Mercy Pecksniff / Cissy Jupe, Amanda McBroom as Marla Havisham / Molly, Rebecca Ann Johnson as Estella Scrooge, Alyson Lindsay as Ensemble, Juliette Goglia as Tiny Tammy / Chairty Pecksniff / Emily Nickleby, James O'Neil as Mr. Merdle / Jasper Jaggers / Godfrey Nickleby, Daniel David Stewart as Smike, Jeff Edgerton as Bob Cratchit / Paul Dombey, and Richard Gould as Ebenezer Scrooge / Magwitch / Deadlock

Alexandra Frohlinger as Jenny Trent, Juliette Goglia as Tiny Tammy / Chairty Pecksniff / Emily Nickleby, Alyson Lindsay as Ensemble, Daniel David Stewart as Smike, Rebecca Ann Johnson as Estella Scrooge, Elliott Graber as Ensemble and Jeff Edgerton as Bob Cratchit / Paul Dombey.