'Nicholas Nickleby' to Return to the West End in Dec.

The legendary theatrical epic The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, adapted from the novel by Charles Dickens, will return to the West End, according to Whatsonstage.com.

Previously seen at the Chichester Festival, where it was helmed by Chichester artistic director Jonathan Church and Philip Franks last summer, the two-part adaptation will be revived at the Gielgud from December 8th, 2007 through January 27th, 2008, with previews beginning December 5th.  Both parts one and two will have 33 performances each.  After finishing its engagement at the Gielgud, the production - whose Trevor Nunn/John Caird adaptation has been "substantially rewritten" as well as shortened by David Edgar - will play from February to April of 2008 at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto.

The show "features a cast of more than 20 actors who tell the tale of Nicholas as he embarks on a thrilling comic journey through 1830s England. Left penniless after the death of his father, Nicholas escapes the influence of his villainous Uncle Ralph and the tyrannical schoolmaster Wackford Squeers and has encounters with a variety of eccentric characters including the warm-hearted Crummles Theatre Company." 

The 2007 production features Daniel Weyman in the title role, with father and daughter David Yelland (as Ralph Nickleby) and Hannah Yelland (Kate Nickleby), and David Dawson (Smike), Pip Donaghy (Mr. Squeers/ Sir Mulberry Hawk), Veronica Roberts (Mrs. Squeers/ Mrs. Crummles), Zoe Waites (Fanny Squeers), Abigail McKern (Mrs. Nickleby), Jonathan Coy (Vincent Crummles and Arthur Gride) and Richard Bremmer (Newman Noggs).  Designed by Simon Higlett, the production will features lighting by Mark Jonathan, music by Matthew Scott, movement by Shona Morris, sound by Matt Mackenzie and musical direction by Paul Frankish.   Duncan C Weldon and Paul Elliott, for Triumph Entertainment Ltd., will produce.

After premiering at the Royal Shakespeare Company,  the eight-hour "Nicholas Nickleby" opened at the Plymouth Theatre on October 4th, 1981 and won the 1982 Tony Award for Best Play, as well as Tonys for star Roger Rees and director Nunn, among others.

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