In Larry Yando's hands, it's Scrooge’s transformation from hardhearted miser into “as good a friend … and as good a man, as the good old city knew” that makes makes this a classic.
Indeed, when we hear Tim say at the play’s end, “May God Bless us everyone,” it feels as though we have been personally touched and blessed by Charles Dickens and the Goodman Theatre.
Arriving at the very moment the Supreme Court appear to be poised to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision of a half-century ago, this haunting musical is infused with an intensity and a cry for help in the very midst of a retroactive movement.
I first saw “Spring Awakening,” the Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater musical about adults confining their children to sexual ignorance, more than 15 years ago.
Brenda Didier’s production is mostly solid, but, amid moments of soaring sublimity, the ensemble struggles with the score’s substantial musical demands.