SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Dec. 13, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — Almost everything in “A Christmas Story, The Musical,” will strike a familiar and relatable chord with anyone who has seen the film version of the 1983 comedy.
So what the fudge can a live, musical version of the story offer a cinephile who has already viewed:
- The humiliation of a 9-year-old Ralphie forced into an infantile pink bunny suit
- His understandable panic at encountering school bully Scut Farkus, or
- His unrelenting pursuit of an “official Red Ryder, carbine action, 200-shot, range model air rifle, with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time.”
Pioneer Theatre Company‘s production of “A Christmas Story, The Musical” can school you in the answers.
Besides the addition of catchy songs, there are the gifted child and adult singers delivering lyrics that magnify and elaborate on characters’ angst, and extended comedy/fantasy scenes go well beyond anything Ralphie imagined in the film version.
So there are more highs and lows, plus songs that address the well dictated duties of a 1940s housewife, and how on earth an otherwise average man would become so smitten with a “fra-jee-lay” leg lamp with a fringed shade and tacky fishnet stockings.
Mack Boyer and Soren Ray alternate in the role of Ralphie, played on opening night by Boyer, who has amazing vocal and acting skills. He may be the most gifted child actor/singer I have seen on a Utah stage. He captured all the nuances, and displayed perfect comic timing in his show-defining role.
Actor Don Noble played the narrator, who was on stage and at times interacted with other actors. In the film, of course, the unseen narrator was Jean Shepherd, the humorist whose semi-fictional stories were the basis of the film. Noble struck the perfect tone, at once sincere and amused with the stories/memories he was sharing.
Stacie Bono plays the mom, struggling to do the best for her temperamental husband and sons and to fulfill her role without complaints or support, and on a tight budget. We have no complaints on Bono’s quality acting, although on opening night she did require the support of her understudy (Stephanie Maloney), who sang off stage due to Bono’s sore throat.
And Danny Bernardy played “the old man,” portrayed on film by Darren McGavin. In the stage show, there’s a song elaborating on why a “major award” won through a crossword puzzle contest provides a rare opportunity to win respect, nay, admiration from his peers in a life that seems to pigeonhole him as average.
Another standout is E.J. Zimmerman as Ralphie’s prim and disapproving teacher, who gets to show an entirely different side of herself in one of the musical’s extended comedy/fantasy sequences.
Strong supporting characters played by youths include Austin Flamm as bully Farkus, Kiyan R. Wyness as Grover, his toadie; Ralphie’s brother Randy (Asher Nehring); and Ralphie’s friends Schwartz (Ethan Marchant) and Flick (Daniel Sorokine), known respectively for triple-dog daring and for a bad decision involving a flag pole.
And the youth and adult ensembles sing, dance, and seamlessly fill smaller roles in this fuller, more spectacular telling of the film story. The musical features book by Joseph Robinette and music/lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.
Pioneer Theatre Company’s own Karen Azenberg directed and choreographed this full and satisfying production, with costumes designed by K.L. Alberts and sets by James Noone.
The show, open to age 5 and older, continues Mondays through Saturdays, evenings with some matinees, through Christmas Eve. For more theater and ticket information, click here.
