Madison Square Garden will hold auditions for various children's roles on Oct. 12 for their upcoming production of A Christmas Carol, starring Roger Daltrey.

All aspiring young actors (ages 7-2) must prepare a Christmas song of their choice, as well as commit to the rehearsal and show dates of Nov. 10-Dec. 27. Registration begins at 8:30 AM, at the Madison Square Garden Lobby (enter on 7th Ave & 33rd Street), with auditions beginning at 9 A.M..

Former frontman for The Who, Roger Daltrey, will play Scrooge in this year's production of A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden, Nov. 27-Dec. 27.

The Alan Menken-Lynn Ahrens Christmas Carol was launched in 1994, revived in `95, `96 and `97, and will return once more at holiday time 1998 to The Theatre at Madison Square Garden (formerly known as The Paramount) in New York City.

Besides being a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Daltrey has appeared in several movies including, of course, "Tommy," the 1975 Ken Russell film of The Who's rock opera. Other film roles include: "Quadrophenia," "Mack the Knife," "Romantic Moritz" (1999) and the television miniseries Pirate Lives." Daltrey also sang the role of the Tin Woodsman in a 1995 concert rendition of "Wizard of Oz." Last year, the role of Ebenezer Scrooge was played, in rotation, by two different theatre veterans: Hal Linden and the recently deceased Roddy McDowall. Previous Scrooges included Walter Charles and Tony Randall.

Carol's authors Alan Menken and Lynn Ahrens have been busy recently. Menken is helping adapt Disney's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" to the stage, while Ahrens and her co-writer Stephen Flaherty (Tony winners for Ragtime) are working on Livent's Dr. Seuss.

Madison Square Garden Productions is producing Christmas Carol. They're also expecting The Wizard of Oz to return (it's currently on tour with N.Y. stars Eartha Kitt and Mickey Rooney) and are partnering with the Dodgers on Footloose.

-- By Sean McGrath, David Lefkowitz and Robert Viagas