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Someone You Should Know: "Christmas Carol" Director

CHICAGO (CBS) – "A Christmas Carol" has been a tradition at the Goodman Theatre for 33 years.

One man, in particular, has a long history with this time-honored production as both an actor and a director. CBS 2's Harry Porterfield says William Brown is someone you should know.

"A Christmas Carol" was written as a book by Charles Dickens in 1843 and since that time it has continued to delight the generations as a stage production.

This will be the fifth year that Brown has directed the play, which deals with the human spirit and, he says, "the idea that someone's life can be reclaimed."

"We talk about redemption, but I love the word reclamation -- the idea that there is some good in everyone," Brown says. 

For four years brown played the role of the penny-pinching Ebenezer Scrooge on the Goodman stage, so his understanding of the play and the character is very deep.

"I think the role is a Shakespearean role," Brown says. "It has the depth and the range and the psychological architecture of a great Shakespearean role."

The work pays dividends for Brown.

"At the end of the night, when the curtain comes down and I look around and people are smiling or wiping away a tear or talking about some of the ideas they heard in the play, I'm grateful," he says.

"A Christmas Carol" runs through December.

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