Cast Call for Goodman Theater’s “A Christmas Carol”
ALL-CHICAGO, 25-MEMBER CAST ANNOUNCED FOR THE 42ND ANNUAL PRODUCTION OF A CHRISTMAS CAROL, APPEARING NOVEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 29 AT GOODMAN THEATRE
**CHICAGO FAVORITE LARRY YANDO APPEARS AS EBENEZER SCROOGE FOR HIS 12TH YEAR AND PARIS STRICKLAND RETURNS FOR HER 3rd YEAR AS TINY TIM**
***SPECIAL EVENTS INCLUDE SENSORY-FRIENDLY PERFORMANCE ON NOVEMBER 23 AND SPANISH TRANSLATED PERFORMANCE ON DECEMBER 26***
(Chicago, IL) More than 1.5 million people have experienced A Christmas Carol, “the greatest seasonal story of all” (Chicago Tribune), now in its 42nd year at Goodman Theatre, November 16 – December 29.Under Artistic Associate Henry Wishcamper’s direction for the seventh year, the annual productionfeatures Chicago actor Larry Yando, who leads the 25-member cast as the irascible businessman Ebenezer Scrooge. Joining Yando is Paris Strickland, 12, who reprises her role as Tiny Tim for the third year along with a host of returning favorites and eight newcomers; a complete cast list appears below. The new young performers in A Christmas Carol, cast from hundreds of Chicagoland youth who auditioned, include Jillian-Giselle Fabulous, 11, as Emily Cratchit, Isabel Kaegi, 17, as Belinda Cratchit; Vikram Konkimalla, 7, as Tiny Tim Alternate; and returning young performers include Asher Alcantara, 14, as Boy Scrooge; Nelson Simmons, 12, as Turkey Child.
A Christmas Carol appears November 16 – December 29; opening night is November 24 at 7pm. Tickets($25 – $89; subject to change) are available at GoodmanTheatre.org/Carol, by phone at 312.443.3800 or at the box office (170 N. Dearborn). A limited amount of tickets ($35) for the Spanish translated performance on December 26 at 7pm are now available with promo code SPANISH at GoodmanTheatre.org/Carol. Please Note: Regular priced tickets ($40-60) are still available for this performance. Additionally, tickets for the November 23 at 2pm Sensory-Friendly performance, are also available starting at $15 with promo code SENSORY at GoodmanTheatre.org/SensoryPerformance.
“I am very excited for another season of A Christmas Carol. We’ve have assembled an extraordinary cast featuring many longtime favorites and some incredible new individuals,” said Director Henry Wishcamper. “So many families have made this production part of their annual holiday celebrations—resulting in thousands of Chicagoans being introduced to the magic of theater each year. It’s a joy and privilege to work on a show that holds so much meaning for so many people.”
Dickens’ holiday classic is the iconic tale of greedy businessman Ebenezer Scrooge, whose sizable bank account is only matched by his disdain for the holidays. One Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by four ghosts who take him on a spectacular adventure through his past, present and future, helping him on his discovery of kindness, compassion and redemption. Former cast members include stage and screen notables Jessie Mueller, Joe Minoso, Del Close, Harry J. Lennix, Felicia P. Fields, Raul Esparza, Sally Murphy and Frank Galati.
Bank of America is the Major Corporate Sponsor, Macy’s is a Corporate Sponsor Partner and Sensory-Friendly Performance Sponsor. Allstate Insurance Company is the Corporate Sponsor Partner and the Chicago Tribune is the Media Partner.
Full Company of A Christmas Carol
By Charles Dickens
Adapted by Tom Creamer
Directed by Henry Wishcamper
Asher Alcantara………………………………Boy Scrooge/Peter Cratchit
Justin Amolsch………………………………………Musician, French Horn
Breon Arzell………………………Dick Wilkins/Ghost of Christmas Future
Kareem Bandealy……………………………………Narrator/Jacob Marley
Jasmine Bracey………………………………Ghost of Christmas Present
Molly Brennan……….……………………………Ghost of Christmas Past
Ali Burch……………………………..………………………………………Frida
Thomas J. Cox……………………………………………………Bob Cratchit
Jillian-Giselle Fabulous………………………………………..Emily Cratchit
Alison Tatum………………………………………………..Musician, Fiddler
Allen Gilmore…………………………..………………….Scrooge Alternate
Susaan Jamshidi…………………………………………Mrs. Cratchit/Ortle
Philip Earl Johnson…………………………………Old Joe/Schoolmaster
Vikram Konkimalla………………………………………Tiny Tim Alternate
Isabel Kaegi ………………………………………………..Belinda Cratchit
Kristen Magee……………………………………………………….……..Belle
Maddi Ruhl…………………………………………………..Musician, Flutist
Malcolm Ruhl…………………………………….Music Director, Accordion
Christopher Sheard………………………………,,,,,,,……Young Scrooge
Nelson Simmons…………,,,,,,,,,,,…………………………….Turkey Child
Hannah Starr……………………………………………Martha Cratchit/Fan
Paris Strickland…………………………………………………………Tiny Tim
Penelope Walker………………………………..Mrs. Fezziwig/Mrs. Crumb
Jonah D. Winston…………………….………………………….Mr. Fezziwig
Larry Yando………………………………….…………..Ebenezer Scrooge
Creative Team
Todd Rosenthal……………………………………..…………..Set Designer
Heidi Sue McMath…………………………….…………Costume Designer
Andrew Hansen…………………………………………..………..Composer
Richard Woodbury…………………………………………Sound Designer
Malcolm Ruhl…………………………………..……………..Music Director
Keith Parham……………………………………………..Lighting Designer
Tommy Rapley ………………….…………………………..Choreographer
Kate DeVore……………………………….………………….Dialect Coach
Alden Vasquez…………………………………Production Stage Manager
Kimberly McCann……………………………….…………..Stage Manager
Flying effects are provided by ZFX Inc.
ABOUT GOODMAN THEATRE
“AMERICA’S “BEST REGIONAL THEATRE” (Time magazine), Goodman Theatre is a premier not-for-profit organization distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and civic engagement. Led by Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, the theater’s artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large scale musical theater works and reimagined classics (celebrated revivals include Falls’ productions of Death of a Salesman and The Iceman Cometh). Goodman Theatre artists and productions have earned two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards, over 160 Jeff Awards and many more accolades. In addition, the Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle” and its annual holiday tradition A Christmas Carol, which recently marked its 41st production, has created a new generation of theatergoers. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production partner with local off-Loop theaters and national and international companies by providing financial support or physical space for a variety of artistic endeavors.
Committed to three core values of Quality, Diversity and Community, the Goodman proactively makes inclusion the fabric of the institution and develops education and community engagement programs that support arts as education. This practice uses the process of artistic creation to inspire and empower youth, lifelong learners and audiences to find and/or enhance their voices, stories and abilities. The Goodman’s Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement is the home of such programming, most offered free of charge, and has vastly expanded the theater’s ability to touch the lives of Chicagoland citizens (with 85% of youth participants coming from underserved communities) since its 2016 opening.
Goodman Theatre was founded by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth, an important figure in Chicago’s cultural renaissance in the early 1900s. The Goodman family’s legacy lives on through the continued work and dedication of Kenneth’s family, including Albert Ivar Goodman, who with his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton, contributed the necessary funds for the creation of the new Goodman center in 2000.
Today, Goodman Theatre leadership also includes the distinguished members of the Artistic Collective: Brian Dennehy, Rebecca Gilman, Henry Godinez, Dael Orlandersmith, Steve Scott, Kimberly Senior, Chuck Smith, Regina Taylor, Henry Wishcamper and Mary Zimmerman. David W. Fox, Jr.isChairman of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Denise Stefan Ginascol is Women’s Board President and Megan McCarthy Hayes is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.
Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
Email Ray Hanania at rghanania@gmail.com.
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