Ludlow Ladd

As the operetta commences, CAROLERS are pleased to announce that, this year, they have an “original” Christmas song: the saga of Ludlow Ladd. LUDLOW is a poor 12-year-old orphan, living in Dickensian Liverpool. His mother died in childbirth and his father was a chimney sweep who recently went up in smoke. Now LUDLOW ekes out an existence selling filthy newspapers on the street.

Christmas is a particularly miserable season for him, since LUDLOW was born on Christmas Eve: sadly, he has no family with whom to share either birthday or holiday. Finally, an eccentric couple, HESTER and NESTOR GRIMBLE, agree to take LUDLOW to their cozy home, already filled with animals, plants, and young PRUDENCE—their beautiful, snotty daughter. Once there, LUDLOW is befriended by the GRIMBLES’ housekeeper, MURIEL McNULTY. He also watches in awe as the family decorate their incomparably gaudy Christmas tree. In a private moment with PRUDENCE, LUDLOW learns of a family secret: the tragic death of