By Tom Mula Performed by Lifeline Theatre ensemble member Phil Timberlake
Did Jacob Marley get a raw deal? In Dickens’ Christmas Carol, Scrooge gets a chance to amend his ways, but what happened to his partner Jacob Marley? Was he left forever doomed? Find out at Lifeline Theatre’s production of Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol, a one-man show written by Goodman Theatre’s own Scrooge, Tom Mula, and performed by longtime Chicago actor and Lifeline Ensemble member, Phil Timberlake. Perfect for the holiday season: 1 actor. 19 characters. 90minutes of rousing good cheer!
Phil Timberlake (Jacob Marley, the Record Keeper, the Bogle, Ebenezer Scrooge, and many others)
Previous Lifeline acting roles include Soon I Will Be Invincible, Pride & Prejudice(Non-Equity Jeff Nomination, Best Supporting Actor), Neverwhere, Busman’s Honeymoon (Non-Equity Jeff Nomination, Best Supporting Actor), The Island of Dr. Moreau (Non-Equity Jeff Award, Best Production), Queen Lucia (Non-Equity Jeff Nomination, Best Supporting Actor – Musical) and The Two Towers. He also coached dialects for Treasure Island, Strong Poison, Gaudy Night, Talking It Over, and A Room With a View. Other Chicago acting credits include First Folio Theatre (Romeo & Juliet, The Tempest), Apple Tree (Violet), Powertap (The Beaux’ Stratagem), and Shakespeare’s Motley Crew (Twelfth Night, Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Lear). Phil has also coached dialects at The Goodman (Gas For Less), American Players Theatre (The Doctor’s Dilemma), Victory Gardens (Mies Julie, Sucker Punch), and numerous productions at First Folio Theatre where he was the resident voice and dialect coach for several years. Phil has taught actors for over 20 years, most recently as the Head of Voice and Speech at the Theatre School, DePaul University. Phil joined the ensemble in 2006.
Tom Mula (Playwright)
TOM MULA has been an award-winning playwright, actor, and director for more than 25 years. He received 2 Joseph Jefferson Awards in 1991 for his play GOLEM at the National Jewish Theatre and for his work on Nicole Hollander’s hit musical, SYLVIA’S REAL GOOD ADVICE. In 1995, Adams Media published his novel JACOB MARLEY’S CHRISTMAS CAROL (the backstage version of Dickens’ Scrooge story told by Marley’s Ghost;) it became a Chicago Tribune bestseller. The audio version has been broadcast nationwide on NPR for seven seasons, and received an INDI Award for Spoken Word from the Association for Independent Music. The play version received the prestigious Cunningham Prize from the Goodman School of Drama at Depaul. It premiered at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, received four Joseph Jefferson nominations, an After Dark Award, and was repeated the following year. Recent and current productions include: Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival (two seasons), American Stage Festival, Houston Stages, North Coast Repertory, Delaware Repertory Company, 1894 Grand Opera House, Third Avenue Playhouse, Bristol Riverside Theatre, New Theatre Miami, and Sage Theatre Group. In 2001, Peninsula Players in Wisconsin premiered his newest play, ALMIGHTY BOB.
Kate Reed (Stage Manager)
Kate is excited to be working with Lifeline again after most recently stage managing Carmilla (audio drama). Her Lifeline credits include Emma, One Came Home, Northanger Abbey, Monstrous Regiment, Bunnicula (2018), You Think It’s Easy Being the Tooth Fairy?, Arnie The Doughnut (2017), and Mr. Popper’s Penguins (2015). Her other credits include work with Drury Lane, Children’s Theatre of Winnetka, Oakton College, Rail Events Productions, NX5 Theatrical, Mudlark Theater, and Northwestern University. She has a degree in Performance Studies from Northwestern.
From The Reader Chicago A Very Marley Christmas Lifeline’s Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol is a cunning twist on the classic. December 4, 2024
By Josh Flanders RECOMMENDED
The holidays are upon us, which means memorable productions like A Christmas Carol provide the toasty comfort of a coal furnace and a warm scarf. But if you’re looking for a fun and different take on the familiar Dickens classic, grab your stovepipe hat and head over to Lifeline Theatre’s Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol, written by Tom Mula and starring Phil Timberlake. This one-man, nineteen-character production is a delightful journey through the world of spirits and curmudgeons, but with a new twist on the well-worn tale.
Dickens’s original story begins with talk of Marley’s death seven years prior, and we only see him as a chain-clad apparition. But Mula’s story not only takes Marley’s perspective by illuminating his own journey after his demise—it also provides fresh insights into many of the themes of the original, inventing new characters who seem penned by Dickens himself. In Marley’s story, we get a glimpse of the afterlife, with poignant observations about who looks over us—good and bad.
We witness more of the rivalry between Marley and Scrooge while they were alive, with Timberlake effortlessly transforming from one miser to the other. Timberlake is charmingly Dickensian, seemingly plucked from the dirty streets of 19th-century London and totally engrossing and hilarious in his multiple roles—a true pleasure to watch. Mula played Scrooge in the Goodman’s A Christmas Carol for seven years in the 1990s and performed his own play for several years, starting in 1998. He gives Marley, who is a kind of “Scrooge lite,” the responsibility to redeem his former partner, despite Scrooge being the most undeserving target of charity. Marley’s quest ultimately reminds us all what true charity really means.
From Newcity Stage A Welcome Visitor: A Review of “Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol” at Lifeline Theatre December 9, 2024
By Amanda Finn RECOMMENDED
Every year, we hear over and over that Christmas isn’t about things or gifts. We don’t need to go all out to have a happy holiday. Heck, even the Grinch knew that: “It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags.” Yet it’s hard in the season of glitz not to expect it in all the familiar places—which is why “Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol” is such a delight.
It doesn’t come with the usual trappings of special effects, elaborate costumes and overly familiar Dickensian quotes. There isn’t a stage full of Londoners wishing Scrooge a “Merry Christmas.” Instead, this unique take on the traditional story by Tom Mula requires one actor to play all the roles. A Herculean task easily conquered by Phil Timberlake.
In Mula’s rendition of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” we hear the events of that Christmas Eve from Marley’s perspective. Scrooge’s partner in life, now dead, is no longer relegated to a single frame of the story. Rather, we discover that he has much to do with the goings-on of Scrooge’s ghostly evening.
Since Timberlake plays everyone, there are no costume changes. The set includes a malleable set of three stage blocks, a table, a candle and a goblet, as well as a gorgeous black backdrop that shimmers with starlight throughout the show. That’s all. And, frankly, that’s all it needs. A danger for one-person shows is that the shtick can get old after a while—but fear not, that is far from the case for Timberlake.
His routine of bobbing in and out of various characters becomes so second nature to us as the audience that it becomes spellbinding. My favorite was the Bogle because his persona resembles Michael Sheen’s from “Good Omens.” Doing this for the show’s two-hour runtime is a feat, to be sure.
Lifeline’s production of “Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol” is a gift, a welcome visitor for the season. Its pared-down story of the famed holiday humbug from his companion’s perspective is perfect for a storefront setting. Shows like this remind us that there are two sides to every story and that winter is a time for rebirth. They also remind us why storefront theaters matter.
