Comedian-actor-satirist Harry Shearer, best known for his iconic roles in Spinal Tap and The Simpsons, and his musician-singer-songwriter wife Judith Owen are searching for a Christmas loving dog, dubbed the ‘Dog Of Xmas’ to appear in Christmas Without Tears, a charity evening of music, comedy and variety taking place at King’s Place Concert Hall, London on December 8th 2016 and would like YOU to share your festive photos with them.
Dog owners who fancy their beloved pooch as the next star of the stage should tweet a Christmassy attired pic of their canine to @Hamandhigh and @JudithOwen with a picture by December 6 and she/he could be picked to join the cast on December 8 as the ‘Dog of Xmas’.
“Besides, don’t we all just want to look at photos of dogs in antlers?!” said Judith.
The ‘Dog Of Xmas’ will join a formidable list of special guests including writer, director, radio presenter, comedian, actor and star of Extras and The Office Stephen Merchant, Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy nominated actress of Downton Abbey, Elizabeth McGovern, Grammy and Emmy winning producer and instrumentalist Kipper Eldridge (Sting), Jacqui Dankworth, one of the most highly regarded vocalists in the UK, and Memphis treasure jazz pianist/singer Charlie Wood.
They are joined by Chris Difford, co-founder of Squeeze, and singer songwriter and BBC Radio 2 favourite Nell Bryden and the rocking American singer and boogie-woogie pianist extraordinaire Doña Oxford.
Adding to the Christmas feast of talent come lords of the London jazz scene The Kansas Smitty’s House Band, one fiddler fiddling in the shape of the classical violinist with attitude, Lizzie Ball and Classical Kicks, Brazilian drummer and percussionist Pedro Segundo, the most versatile and exciting cellist of her generation Gabriella Swallow, the country singer, poster girl of American democracy and global brand that is Tina C, all topped off with a partridge in a pear tree – darling of the airwaves, lifestyle guru for the over-eighties Barry From Watford aka the superlative Alex Lowe.
As Harry Shearer tells it, “the show started as a party in our home to try to comfort Judith, a Welsh woman prone to melancholia, who could not stand that the fact that Christmas in Southern California was about 78 degrees and sunny.”
What began as a humble holiday house party to chase away Judith’s yuletide blues became a charity event and performance in 2005 when they staged it to aid the people of New Orleans after Katrina. This year’s shows in London, Chicago, LA and NOLA will benefit a variety of different charities raising money for the homeless, mental health and musician’s assistance (USA shows).
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