Hanukkah Tale of Hope at Greenhouse

When Esme Raji Codell’s delightful and beautiful original tale Hanukkah Schmanukkah! came out 20 years ago, it was relevant to the time and underlined the Jewish value of Tikkun Olam: healing the world.  Today, this mash up of A Christmas Carol and Jewish activism is even more poignantly important, so I was thrilled to see the story finally adapted to the stage. 

Holiday shows are a lovely tradition that brings families together, and there are very few good shows that are not focused on Christmas. This show centers the Jewish American story of immigrants finding success and becoming involved in social justice, as the Rabbis of past, present, and future come to make Scroogemacher into more of a mensch (good person). One of the delights of the show and the book is the extensive use of Yiddish.  It’s a story about family, traditions and becoming a better human. 

Director and adapter Melanie Ann Apel has assembled a cast able to convincingly play a range of characters from a class full of rowdy kids to a family crowded into a tenement. Jill Bellak spans a wide range playing  a warm, well liked  teacher to embodying the stingy Scroogemacher.  The hour long show travels quickly from New York sweatshops (noting the Triangle Shirtwaist tragedy) to a diverse classroom where Scroogemacher’s great grandson is learning, and this small cast plays a cast of hundreds as they re-enact the Maccabees on to miserable shipmates entering the harbor and seeing the statue of liberty to strikers at labor actions.

There are only 5 opportunities to see this show!  This weekend only. Hanukkah Schmanukkah! is playing December 18 through Sunday December 21, 2025 at the Greenhouse Theatre Center at 2257 N Lincoln, Chicago IL.  For tickets and information go to https://ci.ovationtix.com/36644/production/1254703

 No part of this article was created using AI

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