The 2011 cast has a laugh while testing out their costumes
A holiday tradition for countless Chicagoans, the Goodman Theatre’s annual production of A Christmas Carol has become as essential to the season’s good cheer as eggnog and candy canes. But it’s not only a great rendition of Charles Dickens’s classic tale of spiritual redemption. A sterling example of the power of nontraditional casting, the multiracial production underscores the universal themes of tolerance and goodwill addressed so memorably by the author in 1843.
The Goodman’s commitment to representing a range of humanity on stage dates back to 1980, when then artistic director, Gregory Mosher, staged Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People with the late African American actors William Marshall and Paul Winfield. “It raised a lot of eyebrows at the time, and some of the major critics said it was inappropriate,” recalls Goodman executive director Roche Schulfer. “But we were very proud of that initiative and it really began to raise the issue of color-blind and nontraditional casting.”
In 1983, Schulfer and Mosher cast an African American lad as the Turkey Boy, and in ’84 cast eight African Americans in roles ranging from Jacob Marley to Tiny Tim. Ever since, the show has featured minority performers in roles historically played by white artists. “I have overheard children asking, ‘Daddy, how come the Cratchit children are different colors?’ And I’d think, I really want to be in the car for that ride home,” says Schulfer. “So I know the show has gotten people to talk about race. It’s certainly a provocative topic. No less than playwright August Wilson was adamantly opposed to nontraditional and even color-blind casting. He felt that African American authors should write plays about African Americans performed by African Americans.”
In this year’s production, directed by Steve Scott, not only are the various children played by kids of all races, but Scrooge’s nephew, Mrs. Fezziwig, and The Ghost of Christmas Present are all portrayed by African American actors; and The Ghost of Christmas Past is Latino, as is one of Scrooge’s professional peers. Scott, who has produced and directed the show a number of times over the years, once cast an African American as the boy Scrooge, a Latino as the young-adult Scrooge, and a white performer as Scrooge in old age. “I just thought that if we were going to be multiracial and truly color-blind, let’s stretch that as far as it will go,” recalls Scott.
While color-blind casting might seem a nonissue at this point, not every show lends itself so easily to the approach. No doubt some were perplexed when Phylicia Rashad played matriarch and mother to three white daughters in the New York production of Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s August: Osage County in 2009. But with its distant setting and storybook qualities, A Christmas Carol seems to welcome this strategy. “I’ve always tried to have a multicultural presence in every scene so it becomes less of an issue,” notes Scott. “And now diversity is essential to the fabric of the show.”
For Ora Jones, who has performed in the show a number of times (she appears this season as Mrs. Fezziwig), the stage is a great vehicle for challenging one’s assumptions. “You sit in your seat and get to explore your own barriers, and after a few hours you can put those walls back up and no one ever has to know what you thought. To entertain a new idea and see how it fits into your world can be very daring. To be able to do that from the safety of your seat in the dark is a wonderful opportunity.”
A Christmas Carol runs November 18-December 31. Tickets are $25-$80. 170 N. Dearborn St., 312-443-3800
