EVEN MORE THEATRE

A CHRISTMAS STORY: THE MUSICAL

    There are certain Christmas wishes that take on the dimensions of an epic quest when you are nine years old. For Ralphie Parker, that wish is simple, specific and apparently impossible: he wants a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas.

That childhood obsession sits at the heart of A CHRISTMAS STORY: THE MUSICAL, Drury Lane Theatrical Productions' upcoming holiday offering. It is a story filled with family arguments, schoolyard battles, department store Santas, embarrassing childhood moments and one gloriously ridiculous leg lamp.

For audiences who know the 1983 film A CHRISTMAS STORY, many of those images will already be familiar. Directed by Canadian filmmaker Bob Clark, the movie gradually became a holiday favourite, helped in no small part by years of television broadcasts that turned Ralphie and the Parker family into seasonal fixtures.

I first remember seeing the film on CITY TV back in the day, and that is probably how many people discovered it. What once seemed like a quirky little period comedy has since become part of the annual Christmas ritual.

It might seem an unlikely candidate for a Broadway musical, but A CHRISTMAS STORY: THE MUSICAL has developed a considerable life of its own. The stage version premiered at the Kansas City Repertory Theatre in 2009 and went through substantial development before arriving on Broadway in November 2012 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.

Along the way, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul joined the production as its songwriting team. They would later become internationally known for DEAR EVAN HANSEN and their work on the film musical THE GREATEST SHOWMAN. With a book by Joseph Robinette, the musical combines the familiar episodes of the movie with a score designed to enlarge Ralphie Parker's childhood world into something suitably theatrical.

The original story comes from the writings of humorist Jean Shepherd, who drew upon memories of growing up in Indiana during the 1930s and 1940s. Like Canadian humorist Stephen Leacock, Shepherd transformed everyday frustrations, family arguments and childhood embarrassments into comic storytelling. Beneath all the exaggeration is something instantly recognizable about looking back at childhood through the distorted lens of memory.

At the centre of A CHRISTMAS STORY is nine-year-old Ralphie Parker, whose greatest ambition is to receive a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. Unfortunately, practically every adult in his life seems convinced that this particular present will result in disaster.

His quest takes him through an assortment of Christmas obstacles, including a neighbourhood bully, his intimidating teacher Miss Shields, a department store Santa Claus and his understandably concerned mother. Meanwhile, Ralphie's father, affectionately known as the Old Man, becomes obsessed with winning a contest that results in the arrival of perhaps the most famous lamp in movie history, shaped like the leg of a mannequin.

Danny Harvey directs the Drury Lane production, with music direction by Donna Dunn-Albert and choreography by Laura Moniz. Lily Bruce appears as Ralphie Parker, with Joe Balaz as Jean Shepherd and the Narrator, Brian Vaughan as the Old Man, Lauren Shepherd as Mother and Katharine Costa as Miss Shields.

Part of the appeal of A CHRISTMAS STORY has always been that beneath the broad comedy is a surprisingly affectionate portrait of family life. Christmas here is not perfect. Parents get frustrated, children misbehave, presents go wrong and expectations rarely unfold according to plan.  That may be exactly why the story has lasted.

A CHRISTMAS STORY: THE MUSICAL offers audiences the chance to revisit those familiar memories in a different form, with songs, choreography and live performance adding another layer to Ralphie's increasingly desperate campaign for the perfect Christmas gift.

For anyone who has ever spent December convinced that one particular present would make Christmas complete, Ralphie's story should feel very familiar indeed.

- Brian Morton