Meet Margaret Chong

iss Margaret Chong plays Emily Crachet in Goodman Theatre's classic presentation of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" adapted by Tom Creamer and directed by Henry Wishcamper. This is the 40th anniversary of Chicago's favorite holiday tradition. After 40 years and 1.5 million visitors, "A Christmas Carol" remains the best show to get at the true meaning of the holidays. Miss Chong makes her Goodman Theatre debut and is an up and coming young actress in Chicago. See her in "A Christmas Carol" at Goodman Theatre until December 31, 2017. Tickets and information can be found here. 

What's your personal story? 

I'm Asian American where my dad is Chinese and my mom is part Irish and Polish.  I'm a 5th grader at O. A. Thorp Scholastic Academy here in Chicago.  I come from a musical family where both my parents play lots of instruments and my Nana has been a music teacher for over 50 years.  I'm someone who loves musical theatre thanks to my older brother, Miles, he got me interested in singing and acting out musicals from a very young age.

What's your character's story in "A Christmas Carol”? 

I play Emily Cratchit who is one of the younger children in the Cratchit family.  Tiny Tim is her younger brother.  Emily is a helpful daughter and caring sister to Tiny Tim and her older brother and sister.

What challenges does your character face telling this story?   

Emily is kind of the peacemaker and the one in the family who tries to be optimistic despite the family not having money and Tiny Tim, being sick.  Even though the family is going through a hard time, Emily tries to carry on her help everyone get along by helping around the house and caring for Tim.

How does the character overcome those challenges?  

I think Emily does a good job in trying to keep a positive attitude because her family's hard times.  She has an excited spirit which rubs off on other members of the family.  She tries to look on the bright side and is so happy in the end when Scrooge changes for the better so that they can all have a good Christmas and Tiny Tim gets better.

Any other comments?  

I think A Christmas Carol is such a good family, feel good story.  It shows how important it is to value your family and togetherness.  I also like the fact that that the show has people from all different ethnicities which I like seeing that I come from a family of people who have different ethnicities too.