Casey Audrain once portrayed a woman in “A Christmas Carol” who was selling Ebenezer Scrooge’s clothing after his death. She also spent several seasons working backstage for a Goodman Theatre production at the Art Institute.
This year, Audrain is directing the show for PM&L Theatre in Antioch. It opens Dec. 3 and runs weekends through Dec. 19. Showtimes are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2:30 p.m. Sundays.
Directing the classic tale about four ghosts visiting a miserly old man on Christmas Eve is something Audrain has wanted to do for a long time.
The book written in 1843 has been adapted many times on stage and film — and Audrain will use an adaptation created by the late PM&L member Lou Jones. But she’s also putting her own creative spin on the show that’s been a staple at the Antioch theatre for four decades.
“It is still very traditional as far as the language and the lines go,” Audrain said. “But there will be just little things that happen.”
For example, the audience will see an unusual entrance of the ghost of Christmas present — and there’s a bit of comic element when a young boy returns to Scrooge’s home with a turkey. “Our goal is to bring back a lot of joy to people,” Audrain said.
“I hope the audience loves it and they get a good Christmas feeling.” In years past, the Antioch theater used a turntable on stage with Scrooge’s bedroom where the ghosts appear. Audrain has set the stage this year at a family party.
“I didn’t want to do it 100% traditional where everyone comes out in Victorian outfits,” Audrain said. “People will be in party clothes and then we’ll build on those outfits to create Victorian silhouettes.”
She’s also focusing more on Scrooge, delving into why Christmas makes him so unhappy. “I’ve decided in my mind that Scrooge wants to find family and belonging again, which I think fits with the pandemic. People want to be with their families again.”
She cast Glen Stevens, a longtime actor at PM&L, as Scrooge because he seemed open to changing it up a little bit, she said. “When you hear people audition for Scrooge, they often have a definite idea of who he is and how he sounds.”
But she said she doesn’t want to present Scrooge as a “stereotypical cardboard cutout. He’s a person. He has a lot of different sides.” Hailey Badtke, a teenager from Lake Villa, is playing the ghost of Christmas past. “It’s going to be fun,” Audrain said. “She gives Scrooge a lot of attitude. She has great facial expressions. She’s just delightful.”
One thing Audrain has learned over the years of being involved with the production is “you really have to hear and understand the lines that Jacob Marley’s ghost says or there’s no point in doing the rest of it. That is absolutely the set up for the entire show …. So there will be no reverberations on his voice and he won’t sound super scary,” she said.
“Still, Dickens called it a ghost story and there are some scary things that will happen,” Audrain said.
Guy Finley, vice president of marketing at PM&L Theatre, will portray the ghost of Christmas present.
Finley said he was in PM&L Theatre’s first production of “A Christmas Carol” in 1992 with his mother and late father. “This has always been a special show for me,” he said. “Now, 30 years later, and thinking about presenting our take on what were to me legendary performances as a much younger man is truly moving and humbling,” Finley said.
“We’re working from the same adaptation the director of that show, the late Lou Jones, created, but audiences will be in for a much different presentation of a classic. The story is timeless and I love the creativity we’re putting into this production.”
Playing the ghost of Christmas present can be approached rather simply, he said. “But it’s actually quite complex,” Finley said. “Dickens described him more or less the way Father Christmas is traditionally portrayed, larger-than-life and jovial.
“However, he’s on a mission to lead Scrooge down this path of self-realization and he’s not afraid to switch from jovial to judicial in order to do so.” Finley said Examining the different aspects of Christmas present “has definitely been a welcome challenge,” he added.
Audrain said the timeless tale is a reminder to those who have felt like Scrooge that, “There is joy. You just need to find it.”
‘A Christmas Carol’
When: Dec. 3-19
Where: PM&L Theatre, 877 N. Main St., Antioch
Tickets: $10-$20
Information: 847-395-3055; pmltheatre.com
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
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