Community Corner

Goodman's 'Christmas Carol' Brings Joy To the Heart, And The Season

A new director has freshened the show, which is still a magnificent telling of one person's journey to what Christmas really means.


Theater Review by Pam DeFiglio, Patch.com

Charles Dickens’ marvelous tale of cruelty and redemption is back at the Goodman Theater with a new director and some tweaks.  Never fear, it has all the solemnity and joy of previous productions.

This production sails on the glorious performances of the infinitely expressive Larry Yando as Ebenezer Scrooge, the gracious Ron Rains as Bob Cratchit, and many charmers in the rest of the cast. Matthew Abraham of Skokie, a cute little imp of a third-grader, stole a few scenes.

As in past years, this show’s production values also star, with some scenes that are quite a dazzling eyeful, and impressive sets, lighting, sound and special effects that make this Dickens Christmas come vibrantly alive.

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Director Henry Wishcamper took over this year, and made a few changes, some of which were well-deserved, and others which could use a little tinkering. Keep in mind that the following are pretty tiny quibbles in a production of overall excellence.

The show’s opening now has a single narrator alone onstage, instead of the previous way, of narrating as London vendors and shoppers formed a street scene. Because some of the characters in the street scene made remarks to each other about how nasty Scrooge was, it helped to establish Scrooge’s irascible reputation.  Without this scene, the ideas of Scrooge’s villainy is less firmly planted in our minds.

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Director Wishcamper also changed the setting of the (imaginary future) scene in which the Cratchits mourn Tiny Tim from their home to what seems to be a cemetery.  This caused it to lose some of its intimacy, because the sight of Tiny Tim’s empty chair in the home is a sorrowful visual symbol.

There is now no real transition from Scrooge’s scene with the third ghost to Scrooge’s waking up in the morning. In past productions, bright morning light shone through Scrooge’s bedroom window, trumpeting that the miser’s long night of examining his life was past, and his new life was about to begin.

Now to the great things about this production—there are some fabulous technical and lighting special effects in the scene in which Jacob Marley appears, and a beautiful, functional new set for Scrooge’s living quarters. Also, the door knocker in which the late Jacob Marley’s face magically appears is now positioned so that the entire audience can see it, which is a nice improvement. 

Wishcamper has also made nips and tucks to areas of the play which were confusing or ran too long, such as the imaginary future scene in which scavengers sell Scrooge’s possessions to a dealer.

The Goodman’s “A Christmas Carol” remains a crowning achievement, telling Dickens’ tale in a way that zeroes in on the true meaning of Christmas.  It’s one of the nicest presents you can give in this holiday season.

Ticket and show information is available on the Goodman Theatre's website.


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