Goodman Theatre’s ‘Christmas Carol’ filled with holiday spirit

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The Ghost of Jacob Marley (Nathan Hosner, right) brings an ominous message to Ebenezer Scrooge (Larry Yando) in the Goodman Theatre production of “A Christmas Carol.”

Updated: January 3, 2012 9:02AM

If the holidays have sneaked up on you this year, there’s no better place to get in the mood than at the Goodman Theatre where the annual production of “A Christmas Carol” is in full swing.

Tom Creamer’s trustworthy adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic is now in its 34th reincarnation. What makes this version worth a look is actor Larry Yando who returns for his fourth turn in five years as Ebenezer Scrooge. Tall, skinny and kind of loopy, he embodies Scrooge with every movement, every syllable spoken.

Also returning to the production is Goodman associate producer Steve Scott, who last directed the show in 1992, and easily melds the story’s dark, serious message with moments of laughter. He brings with him a large cast, an interesting cross-section of Chicago actors, all of whom add polish to the show.

The story of Scrooge and his Christmas Eve visits from the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future is, of course, a familiar one. Published in 1843, the novel is an enduring classic.

Scrooge is nasty to everyone, including his loyal clerk Bob Cratchit, whose poor family is happy and close, even though they have very little. In pursuit of wealth, Scrooge’s bleak world has been “reduced to columns in a ledger book.”

As he settles in for a warm winter sleep, he’s abruptly awakened by the uneasy ghost of Jacob Marley, his dead business partner, who warns him to mend his ways.

Scrooge then embarks on an eye-opening adventure with the help of three ghostly apparitions. He peruses the mistakes of his past (losing the woman he loves), the problems of the present (the struggles of the Cratchit family) and the horrors of the future (the untimely death of Cratchit’s youngest child, Tiny Tim, and his own unmourned passing).

“A Christmas Carol” is a sturdy moneymaker for the Goodman, so not much changes in the production from year to year. But why should it when it works on many levels, from Andrew Hansen and Malcolm Ruhl’s solid music and vocal direction to Todd Rosenthal’s ever-shifting set and Heidi Sue McMath’s colorful Victorian costumes? And Robert Christen’s lighting brings a winter chill right into the audience.

Among the standout performances are those by Bob Rains as resilient Bob Cratchit, Penelope Walker as an ebullient Ghost of Christmas Present, Joe Minoso and Sandra Delgado as Scrooge’s loving nephew and his wife, Ross Lehman as a rambunctious Mr. Fezziwig and little Oscar Vasquez, in a variety of roles, who proves he’s an actor in the making.

And reigning over them all is Yando in a role he was born to play. His dark-hearted Scrooge is convincingly Dickensian, and that makes the reformed, happy-hearted Scrooge all the more delightful.