Scrooge To Scrooge

Larry Yando (left, above) discusses playing the role of Ebenezer Scrooge in the Goodman Theatre production of A Christmas Carol with his “Alternate Scrooge,” the Reduced Shakespeare Company’s own Austin Tichenor. The two actors talk about the challenge of being haunted by the Ghost of Productions Past; how Dickens’s story continues to percolate in the off-season; how they navigate script changes, especially the little annoying ones; how Scrooge compares to some of the other great roles Yando’s played (such as Scar in The Lion King, Prospero, Roy Cohn in Angels in America); how seeing another actor play “your” role can sometimes act like “an undigested bit of beef;” why the story stays relevant year after year; the value of staying on your toes; how and why Scrooge chooses Marley over Belle; and how if A Christmas Carol ended 20 minutes earlier, it’d be King Lear. (Length 21:48)

Saluting The Understudies

“Stand-ins of the world, stand up!” (Tom Stoppard, The Real Inspector Hound) 2022 will be remembered as the Year of the Understudy – not only did the Patron Saint of the Understudy King Charles III finally step into the leading role after waiting in the wings for 74 years, but audiences began to fully appreciate how understudies keep theatre going during a global pandemic. Understudies come in a variety of flavors, from covers to swings to alternates, and actors Loren Jones and Cindy Gold talk about which flavor they are in the Goodman Theatre’s 2022 production of A Christmas Carol. The conversation features lessons learned from the pandemic; how understudying can actually be a good paid gig; the difficulty of learning the lines without learning the moves; fast-tracking the understudies during rehearsal; the challenge of not just learning the role but the entire show; how old ways of doing things are changing; the identity of Scrooge’s overstudy; and tales of understudying both glorious and horrendous. (Length 19:43)

Episode 620. Tom Hanks’ Falstaff

Director Kristen Osborn talks about serving as assistant director to Daniel Sullivan on the Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles production of both parts of Henry IV earlier this summer, which starred Tom Hanks as Falstaff, Joe Morton (Scandal, Brother From Another Planet) as Henry IV, and Hamish Linklater (Fargo, Legion, The Newsroom) as Hal. Kristen discusses how the script was abridged and cast and also shares insights into how the emphasis of Shakespeare’s History gets transformed by star quality. Featuring music by Michael Roth, shout-outs to our own Jeff Marlow, mysterious secrets of the pocket gopher, becoming invaluable, digging into the work, figuring out backstage traffic, transforming the space, changing class distinctions, putting in understudies, feeling like a fraud, what this gig might lead to, how to double a cast of “only” nineteen people, a growing love of Shakespeare, and how a young director shapes her career. Recorded live at The Celtic Knot in Evanston; Where else to talk about Henry IV but in a pub?! (Length 23:29)