Interview: Will Lyman Talks Playing Scrooge in Commonwealth Shakespeare Company's A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Boston has a long history with “A Christmas Carol.” Victorian-era author Charles Dickens gave his first American reading of the holiday classic at Tremont Temple in December 1867 while he was living just a block away at the Parker House.

Now, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company is about to begin a new chapter in the storied history of “A Christmas Carol,” with its own full production of the show – starring award-winning actor Will Lyman as the mean-spirited miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, who must go forward and back in time to learn the true meaning of Christmas – at Boston’s Cutler Majestic Theatre December 8–22.

Directed by CSC’s founding artistic director Steven Maler, with music direction by Dan Rodriguez, the cast for the Steven Wargo adaptation includes Aimee Doherty as Mrs. Cratchit, Robert St. Laurence as Bob Cratchit, Kathy St. George as Charwoman, Jared Troilo as Fred, Bobbie Steinbach as Jacob Marley, and, as the trio of spirits, Kathryn McKellar as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Carolyn Saxon as the Ghost of Christmas Present, and Damon Singletary as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.

Also in the cast are Neal Ferreira as Fezziwig, Laura McHugh as Mrs. Fezziwig, Fred C. VanNess Jr. as Topper, Kayla Shimizu as Elizabeth, Lily Segal Steven as Martha Cratchit, Hayley Travers as Catherine/Mrs. Dilber, Stephen Caliskan as Peter Cratchit, Alex Poletti as Young Scrooge, Siobhán Carroll as Female Swing, Cleveland Nicoll as Male Swing, and local youth performers including Maia Ettinger and Cora Hertz as Belinda Cratchit, Paul Jagger Karger and Xavier Rosario as Boy Scrooge/Tim Cratchit, and Quinn Murphy and Eviva Rose as Turkey Boy. 

Lyman has played a host of leading roles on Boston-area stages, from James Tyrone in “Long Day’s Journey into Night” at the New Rep and Joe Keller in the Huntington’s “All My Sons,” to the title character in CSC’s “King Lear.” He has also appeared in feature films including “Little Children,” “Mystic River,” and “A Perfect Murder,” and been the voice of the PBS documentary series “Frontline” for 40 years. His current assignment, however, marks only the second time he has taken on the iconic role of Scrooge.

The actor first played the character in “A Christmas Carol” for Commonwealth Shakespeare Company four years ago, in a shortened 40-minute one-person videotaped version adapted by Fred Sullivan, Jr., and directed by Maler, shown in a storefront window in Boston’s Downtown Crossing between December 2020 and January 2021 during the Covid pandemic. This year’s version is fully staged, with traditional carols arranged by Dianne Adams MacDowell and choreography by John Lam, a former principal dancer with the Boston Ballet.

From his home in Jamaica Plain recently, Lyman spoke about “A Christmas Carol,” “Frontline,” and more.

How did you get involved in this CSC production of “A Christmas Carol”?

Steven Maler started thinking about doing this a few years ago, with the idea of developing an institutional version that could be done annually. Every theater company has done “A Christmas Carol” at one time or another, and Steve and the CSC Board decided to do this one and they asked me to play Scrooge. When Steve and I first got together to talk about it, he hadn’t met with designers or anyone else yet. It was early in the process, so I asked for a couple of days to think about it before I agreed.

Over the years, a couple of people had told me that I’d be perfect for the role. And I was approached about doing it in a joint production by The Nora Theatre Company and Underground Railway Theater at the Central Square Theater in 2018. I had to turn it down that time and the role went instead to Jeremiah Kissel.

I take it this CSC production is intended to be presented annually going forward. If so, will you stay with it?

I think I’ve committed for at least two years. Once we’ve got it, we’ve got it. The sets and costumes will go into storage so that they can be used again. The idea is continuity – that’s the plan. This production offers a chance to do something that lasts and create a new holiday tradition for CSC, and that really appeals to me. And it’s going to be on a grander scale than any I’ve seen before, too.

In your opinion, what makes a great Ebenezer Scrooge?

I think, as with almost anything, it takes honesty. As an actor, you have to be able to answer for yourself, “Why?” and “How did he get this way?” You need to dig into your own psyche and imagine how you would react to abandonment, loneliness, and a sense of unfairness and loss, let that inside you, and then play against all of it.

Ebenezer Scrooge has been played on stage and in feature and television films by everyone from Alastair Sim, Albert Finney, Michael Caine, Robert Morse, Jim Backus, Tim Curry, Buddy Hackett, George C. Scott, Derek Jacobi, and Patrick Stewart to Susan Lucci and, locally, David Coffee who has brought the character to life for some 30 years at North Shore Music Theatre. Do you have a favorite?

It would probably be Bill Murray in the 1988 film “Scrooged.” My wife and I watch that one every year. It’s a scream because it’s full of Bill Murray zaniness. It’s a modern take on the story with Murray as a television executive with the wonderful Alfre Woodard as his secretary. Karen Allen, John Glover, Carol Kane, John Forsythe, and Robert Mitchum are in the film, too, and they’re all terrific.

Speaking of terrific actors, Bobbie Steinbach is playing Scrooge’s late business partner, Jacob Marley, opposite you. What’s that like?

Bobbie is wonderful – as both an actor and a human being. When Steven told me he wanted her to play Jacob Marley, I immediately thought it was inspired casting. Bobbie and I played lovers in “The Clean House” at New Rep in 2008, and we also did “Timon of Athens” with Actor’s Shakespeare Project in 2018. I’m very happy any time I get to share a stage with Bobbie.

Another of your former co-stars, Karen MacDonald, with whom you appeared in memorable productions of Eugene O’Neill’s “Long Day’s Journey into Night” and Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons,” is competing with you this month, playing Scrooge for the third straight year in “A Christmas Carol” at Merrimack Repertory Theatre in Lowell. Have you and Karen talked about each of your respective takes on the show?

Karen and I spent an entire evening together talking about the role and how to do this or that with the character. I saw Karen in the show last year and she was delightful, but then Karen is always delightful.

I understand there will be some great songs in the CSC production. Are you warming up your singing voice?

I’m definitely not a trained singer. I’ve sung on stage before, but I’m not a real singer. I am, however, enjoying listening to Aimee Doherty, Laura McHugh, Neal Ferreira, Jared Troilo, and Fred VanNess. It’s hard to remain Scrooge-like listening to their glorious voices.

You may not be a singer, but your sonorous voice is familiar to millions from your work on “Frontline.” What’s it like to be part of such a long-running, significant program?

The series has been my lifeline for 40 years. If I didn’t have it, I’d still be doing narrations, but not of the quality of “Frontline.” I’m honored to work there, because it doesn’t get any better. What I have to talk about is frequently distressing, but it has to be talked about. The key is that I stay out of the way of the material. I’m given the information to read, and I do so with an absence of emotion and no opinion offered. I’m not participating, just informing.

Photo caption: Will Lyman garbed for his role as Ebenezer Scrooge in the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company production “A Christmas Carol” Photo by Matt McKee. Head shot of Will Lyman courtesy of The Hollywood Agency.

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