Nov. 24--Anyone who just played King Lear is ready for a little fun. So that might explain why the hard-working Larry Yando, once again starring in "A Christmas Carol" at the Goodman Theatre, seems especially eager to arrive at the end of the show, when a newly cheery Mister Scrooge, suddenly aware that our time on this planet is all too short, can charm the Cratchits, hug Fred and greatly goose up the lives of butchers and their delivery boys.
There are some dangers there -- in this year's production, the show's 37th consecutive year and Henry Wishcamper's second year as director, Scrooge is not exactly a tough assignment for Jacob Marley (Joe Foust) and Patrick Andrews' very chiseled and shiny Ghost of Christmas Past. One quick look at his past, we quickly intuit, and Scrooge is ready to flip.
I found "A Christmas Carol," in general, a little broader in tone this year, and, as I noted last year, the very-1990s adaptation badly needs an update. Nonetheless, this remains a classy production certain to satisfy those for whom it is part of a Christmas tradition of many years standing. There are a few small changes deep into the show -- when Foust morphs into a deliciously unpleasant Victorian fence with his own Dickensian food-truck-like operation -- and Andrews adds an intriguing dimension as a Past who looks like he just flew in from "Angels in America." Many in the cast -- including Malcolm Ruhl, who plays the accordion -- have been with this show for years. In Ruhl's distinguished case, we're talking a decade.
Aside from Foust, Andrews and Yando, other notable performances this year include Kristina Valada-Viars, as Belle, the charming young woman who might have saved the Young Scrooge, had he only been listening, and Kareem Bandealy, who takes the thankless (and, to my mind, redundant now) role of narrator and makes it consistently interesting. Lisa Gaye Dixon, a terrific new choice for the Ghost of Christmas Present, also demands to be heard. She's the best new addition to the cast, raising the stakes of those crucial segments.
And what of Tiny Tim? Hoisted as always on Scrooge's soldiers for the show's final moment, Nathaniel Buescher performs his duties as Tiny Tim with a big grin and a hearty "God bless us, everyone."
Amen to that, kid.
3 STARS
Through Dec. 28 in The Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St.; $31-$101 at 312-443-3800 and goodmantheatre.org
