It premiered at A National Theatre around Washington, D.C. on 12 December, 1996, to negative reviews, and the production canceled the Broadway opening that had been scheduled for April 17, 1997. The reworked & additional successful West End productiin opened at the Aldwych Theatre on July 1, 1998, running for 1044 performances.

According to a novel of the equivalent title by Mary Hayley Bell, the setting was moved from either Lancashire to small town Louisiana in 1959. It tells a story of tercet kids -- 16 season old Drink, sister Bluejay (called Brat), & immature brother Robin (called Unfortunate Child) -- when it approach their number 1 Christmas since a dying of their mother. Discovering an on the loose crook hiding in their barn, it be confident that he is Jesus, and agree to keep his location secret. A plot contrasts a innocence of a toddlers by owning the fervour of the town's residents to force penalisation on the supposed evil in their midst.

Notable songs from either a indicate include "No Matter What" (freed as a individual by Boyzone), "Whistle Down the Wind", "A Kiss is a Terrible Thing to Waste", & "When Children Rule the World". An album was freed around 1998 featuring 12 of a songs from either the indicate covered by creative person like Tom Jones, Meat Loaf, and Bonnie Tyler.