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A Christmas Carol A CHRISTMAS CAROL From the Novella by CHARLES DICKENS Adapted by TOM CREAMER Directed by HENRY WISHCAMPER Contents 2 Goodman Theatre’s A Christmas Carol Through the Ages 4 The Science of Levitation Co-Editors | Willa J. Taylor, Teresa M. Rende, Elizabeth Rice 6 Charles Dickens, and How a Story Came to Be Production Manager | Elilzabeth Rice 10 Dickens’ Times: Victorian London Designer | Teresa M. Rende 12 Dickens’ Times: A Global Perspective 14 From The Industrial Revolution in Dickens’ London to Contributing Writers/Editors | Elizabeth The Information Revolution in Today’s America Gottmann, Aeneas Hemphill, Jessica Hutchinson, William Landon, Elizabeth Mork, Dawn Raftery, 17 Victorian Etiquette Kelly Reed, Teresa M. Rende, Elizabeth Rice, 18 Contemporary Etiquette Willa J. Taylor 19 Christmas Around the World 21 How to Celebrate the Reason SPECIAL THANKS: Matthew Chandler, Jessica Hutchinson, the Goodman Theatre Production 22 A History of Spirits Department, Christmas. 24 How the Consumer Stole Christmas 26 Theatre Etiquette 28 Reading Your Ticket 29 Writing Your Response Letter This study guide is published by Goodman Theatre’s Education and Community Engagement Department for participants in the Student Subscription Series. For more information related to A CHRISTMAS CAROL, lesson plans and activities, please visit the Goodman’s Education website at: www.goodmantheatre.org/engage-learn 1 Goodman Theatre’s A Christmas Carol Through the Ages BY ELIZABETH RICE 1987 Not a stranger to 1978 1985 Christmas traditions in To try and attract audiences A Christmas Carol returns to Chicago, retail native 1991 to the theater during the the Goodman and William Marshall Fields sponsors Tom Mula replaces slower winter months, future J. Norris once again takes the 10th anniversary William J. Norris as Executive Director Roche on the role of Ebenezer production of ACC. Ebenezer Scrooge. Schulfer suggests producing Scrooge. Larry Sloan further Goodman Theatre also a Charles Dickens’ classic, A revises the ACC adaptation, helps spearhead A Christmas Carol. The inaugural which would be used by Season of Concern, a performance features William the Goodman until 1989. fund initially developed J. Norris as Ebenezer Scrooge, Although Christa Scholtz’s to provide care for 1993 who plays the role the longest costumes move from the Chicago theater artists Steve Scott passes the torch to from 1978–1983, then Auditorium Theatre to the with AIDS-related Resident Director Chuck Smith. 1985–1990. Goodman, a difference in illnesses that has Smith currently is celebrating space is required to use expanded to help theatre his 20th anniversary season Joseph Niemski’s original artists with health- with Goodman Theatre. set design and Robert related and medical Christen’s original lighting emergencies. design. 1979 1989 With the success of Goodman Theatre ACC the year before, the Associate Producer Steve Goodman decides to Scott directs former continue what will become Goodman dramaturg Tom a long-standing tradition Creamer’s new adaptation of presenting A Christmas 1984 of the Dickensian classic. Carol during the holiday The only year A Christmas Carol This adaptation still is 1996 season. This year the is not at the Goodman, this used by the Goodman Following Chuck Smith, Chicago Sun-Times helps production features an entirely today. Scott will direct the Goodman Artistic Associate sponsor the performance. new script, adapted by former production for the following Henry Godinez begins Goodman Artistic Director Gregory three productions, and directing A Christmas Carol. Mosher and Larry Sloan, and then again in 2011 and Henry will direct the show recasts Frank Galati as Scrooge. 2012 for the 34th and 35th for six seasons, helping Performed at the Auditorium anniversary productions. the show transition to the Theatre, the 1984 production Goodman’s new space in includes entirely new set, lighting, 2000. costume and sound designs, with Mosher as the director. In addition, the production features the first attempt at color-blind/ nontraditional casting. This will be the norm for all future castings of ACC. 2 1998 Tom Mula steps down as Ebenezer Scrooge to perform his one-man show inspired by his time in ACC, Jacob 2010 Marley’s Christmas Carol. It John Judd takes will play for two seasons in over the role of Goodman Theatre’s smaller Ebenezer Scrooge, space, Stage 2. Rick Snyder while Larry Yando replaces Mula as Scrooge. plays Dr. Pangloss in Mary Zimmerman’s adaptation of Candide. 2000 Despite just moving 2012 into its current space Goodman Theatre from the old theater at 2006 celebrates the 35th Columbus and Monroe Ebenezer Scrooge turns anniversary of A behind the Art Institute director! William Brown directs Christmas Carol, with of Chicago, Goodman A Christmas Carol and replaces Steve Scott once again at Theatre continues its himself with veteran actor the helm. holiday tradition with A Jonathan Weir. Brown will direct Christmas Carol. the following four seasons of ACC. 2002 William Brown 2011 replaces Rick Steve Scott returns Snyder as to the director’s chair Ebenezer Scrooge. of A Christmas Carol, Kate Buckley joins followed closely the production as by Larry Yando as 2001 its new director. Ebenezer Scrooge. The Goodman re-envisions 2013 A Christmas Carol to New Artistic Associate accommodate the larger Henry Wishcamper inherits and more flexible Albert the directorial reins and Stage at the new theater. 2007 shakes up the set by Set designer Todd Rosenthal Chicago actor Larry introducing a redesigned creates a set that utilizes Yando takes over bedroom set piece for the theater’s 76 feet of the iconic role of Scrooge. fly space and 12.5-foot- Ebenezer Scrooge. deep trap room. Costume Other than a slight shop manager Heidi Sue hiatus in 2010, he McMath designs a new is the most recent set of costumes working actor to continuously with ACC veteran Robert transform into Christen to further the Scrooge. spirit of Christmas in the production’s details. These designs will become the cornerstones of the production, with only minor changes over the next 12 seasons. 3 The Science of Levitation BY KELLY REED Ebenezer Scrooge (John Judd, ACC 2010) flies through time as he takes a visit to his childhood. Photo by Liz Lauren. This year, Jacob Marley’s ghost is not playing around. create theater. “It’s the science behind it that I have In contrast to years past, the ghost heralding the always been the most excited about,” he says. “There’s apparitions of Christmas past, present and future will something about being able to take all of these different appear on stage in a fury of smoke and noise that is things and in the end you create one massive theatrical more spooky than magical. The changes to this scene project. In theater, you’re always doing something made by director Henry Wishcamper are so big that different. There’s always a different challenge, and the production crew built an entirely new set piece there’s always new technology.” for Scrooge’s bedroom. Matt Chandler, the associate production manager for the Albert Theatre, oversaw One of the main challenges in constructing Scrooge’s the entire process of building this new piece. “We bedroom was that of levitation: During a pivotal scene, wanted to take a step in modernizing the unit while at Scrooge’s bed must rise off the floor and carry him, the same time keeping it in the realm of the rest of the floating, into the air. After testing differentmotor production,” Chandler says. “We wanted to tell the story mechanics and simple machines, crew members in a more dramatic way, visually, than we have in years decided to build a cable drive system to accomplish past.” the feat. The system starts backstage, with motorized winches that rotate giant drums, each with grooves Although directors are constantly re-imagining the on the outside to catch the cable as it wraps around. show like this, the production crew uses the same The cables connect to a forklift-type apparatus, which basic science and math concepts year after year to sticks through the wall and under the bed, lifting it up make changes to the set. The process of building when the motors are switched on. This machine lifts the new “Scrooge Unit” started over a year ago, with not only the bed, but the actor moving (and jumping) designers discussing the artistic vision for the show on top of it. Since the bed must remain absolutely still, with Wishcamper. After this, the designers drafted crew members needed to figure out how much weight in plans to bring that vision to life in the safest and most addition to the bed the lift would have to hold, as well as cost-effective way. Once Chandler approved the final the dynamic forces acting on it as the actor jumped up plans, engineers and carpenters translated them into and down. a real, live set. Chandler talks about the excitement of using math and science skills in innovative ways to Once they determined this, they could choose the right 4 type of casters to achieve the proper amount of torque to get the cable moving. The safety and the “look” of the scene both depend on the system starting and stopping smoothly, so the speed of the motors needed to accelerate and decelerate along a parabolic curve. In the end, the engineers manipulated basic physics concepts — torque, equilibrium, acceleration and dynamic forces — to create the illusion of levitation. They used engineering techniques such as simple machines, automation and mechanics to build the systems that manipulate those concepts. When constructing the set piece as a whole, the production manager used math to calculate the total price of materials based on their current market price, after which carpenters used geometry to build a sturdy structure.
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