Minneapolis audiences will get a historic theatrical gift this Christmas season: The Guthrie's production of Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol will feature the voice of Sir John Gielgud as narrator.

Gielgud's voice was first used in last year's version of the annual holiday favorite. On Gielgud's recitation, Guthrie artistic director Joe Dowling, had this to say, "His voice will marry beautifully with those of the actors on stage and is a perfect fit with the language of Charles Dickens."

Also, returning from last year is Jarlath Conroy, reprising his role as the penny pinching, "Never too late to change" Ebenezer Scrooge.

Previous credits for the 93-year-old Gielgud include the National Theatre's 1947 Medea and Crime And Punishment, both of which played on Broadway. He debuted in 1921 at London's Old Vic and on Broadway in 1928's The Patriot. He also won an Oscar for Arthur. Spokesperson Kemp Powers told Playbill On-Line, "We've done Christmas Carol for over 20 years. For a number of years, we had the narrator be someone portraying Dickens at the dinner table with his family."

A Christmas Carol at MN's Guthrie Theatre will begin previews Nov. 20 for a Nov. 27-Dec. 27 run.

-- By Sean McGrath and David Lefkowitz