In 2020 ‘THE FORGOTTEN CAROLS’ Transitions from Stage to Screen
The 29th Year Brings a New ‘Reimagined’ Version of the Holiday Tradition to the Screen-Salt Lake City –Thanks to the pandemic, 2020 has brought an immeasureable number of changes to traditional holiday events, and even the timeless musical The Forgotten Carols could not escape its effects. Now in its 29thyear of consecutive performances, The Forgotten Carols will forego its usual stage performances, and instead, this year’s performance will be filmed and produced as audiences in order to keep the Holiday tradition alive. Michael McLean, a well-known performer, composer, songwriter, author and director initially developed The Forgotten Carols as solely a theme-driven album of new Christmas music. But he soon realized he needed a story to connect all the songs together. McLean wrote the interweaving story of a nurse named Connie Lou who cares for John, an elderly patient who shares the songs about those people he claims to have lived with 2,000 years ago. For his initial performances, McLean played all the parts to give people a sense of how families could present the narration at home hoping it would become a family tradition families.Over the years, McLean’s modest one-man show has evolved into a huge theatrical production performed for more than a million people throughout the world. The show has been presented throughout the United States and the world, including shows in Ireland, Germany, England and even Ukraine.
And now, after 28 years on the stage, The Forgotten Carols will be available to even more audiences through the film production! The production will be staged and filmed in September in Iron County, UT. “To produce a high-quality film version of this beloved show during a pandemic has been no small undertaking,” said Julie Ahlander, producer. “We are absolutely thrilled to be able to produce the show in Utah –home to many of our cast and crew, including the writer and star of the show, Michael McLean. And we have to thank the Utah Film Commission for its support, because without its support this production would not have been possible.” Perhaps prophetically, McLean had been working on adapting the stage version of The Forgotten Carols as a feature film for the past several years, and it was this process that inspired changes to the story he implemented last year. “After we wrote the screenplay for the film, there were so many elements we fell in love with that just had to be in the stage version,” said McClean. “And the changes we’ve made just feel right. They make the characters deeper, the story more spiritual, and the experience that much richer.”
SYNOPSIS
The Forgotten Carols stage performance tells the story of Connie Lou, a nurse whose empty life is changed when Uncle John, a new patient she is attending, recounts the story of Christ’s birth as told by little known characters in the nativity story. The accounts from the Innkeeper, the Shepherd and others help the nurse discover what the world has forgotten about Christmas, ultimately encouraging her to open her heart to the joy of this special season
DVD Purchase Link: https://forgottencarols.com/store/
