Chicago actor Christopher Donahue (currently playing Ebenezer Scrooge in the Goodman Theatre's production of A Christmas Carol), discusses playing the role of Gayev in the Goodman's 2023 production of Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, directed by Robert Falls. Donahue reveals the challenges and rewards of discovering a character in rehearsal; how he finds humor alongside absurdity; how he takes inspiration from the original Dickens novel of A Christmas Carol; how people can be capable of change; his relationship with Tony-winning director (and friend of the pod) Mary Zimmerman; and finally, how the audience teaches you how to perform the play because the audience is the reason we do this. (Length 20:51)

Richard Schoch returns to discuss How Sondheim Can Change Your Life, his latest book that offers new insights into the work of Stephen Sondheim, how it was created, how it’s affected audiences for over 60 years, and – yes – what life lessons can be gleaned from his shows. Richard reveals some fascinating inside publishing baseball; reasons for the addition of the song “Something Just Broke” in Assassins; academic backup from Mandy Patinkin; how he makes a close reading of the text so personal and readable; and a surprisingly cogent answer to the facile question of whether Sondheim is our modern Shakespeare. (Length 29:49)

Actor/comedian Mike McShane (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Whose Line Is It, Anyway?) is playing Ebenezer Scrooge in A Red Carol, a new adaptation of A Christmas Carol for the legendary San Francisco Mime Troupe. Mike discusses how this "activist adaptation" differs from other takes on the Dickens classic; how he’s able to combine serious dramatic acting with, in his words, "as cheap comedy as you can get this year” and how a clown can play Hamlet easier than a proper actor can play a clown; the disconnect between Christmas Carol audiences in the theater and the same people passing unhoused people on the street; how two veterans of West End Shakespeare are both playing Scrooge for American theater institutions in San Francisco and Chicago; how Alan Rickman came up with his great lines in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves; and the glory of creating politically activist theater that’s also ridiculously funny and entertaining. (Length 21:21)