Review: A Christmas Story: The Musical. Book by Joseph Robinette. Music & Lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Based upon the film, “A Christmas Story” with screenplay by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown and Bob Clarke and the book, “In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash” by Jean Shepherd. Directed by Eric Rosen. Choreographed by Kelly Devine. With John Bolton, Anne Allgood, Frank Corrado, Carol Swarbrick, Matthew Lewis and introducing Clarke Hallum as Ralphie. Now through December 30 at the 5th Avenue Theatre.
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| The yellow eyed Scut Farkus attacks in “A Christmas Story” at the 5th Avenue Theatre. Photo by Chris Bennion/5th Avenue Theatre. |
Like 97% of the free world I’ve seen the 1983 film, A Christmas Story approximately 492 times and like 97% of the free world, I’m a big fan of the film. It’s a charming but not cloying Christmas fable that manages to be endearing and witty without being saccharine and lachrymose. A nostalgic look at a young boy’s Christmas experience in World War II era Indiana, it doesn’t feel dated but classic and timely. Young Ralphie’s story of the Christmas he wanted a “an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock, and this thing which tells time” and his run-ins with the evil Scut Farkus, his teacher Miss Shields, and the nastiest department store Santa Claus in the world are now part of our Christmas tradition along with Rudolph, Frosty and the Grinch. Ralphie Parker and his family are now part of our National Story; they’re embedded into our psyche and our culture. They are eternal.
And, they are now a Broadway bound musical. The Great White Way decided about 20 years ago to pretty much stop creating new original musicals and decided it was a lot easier to create, (and market) musicals based on recent Hollywood films. Why not? You get a sure fire, crowd pleasing story, slap some music on it, add some dances and lots of moving scenery, buy several million dollars worth of TV commercials to remind people that their favorite film is now their next favorite Broadway musical and you’re all set! Currently previewing on Broadway: Spider Man the Musical! Probably coming soon: Avatar: The Musical!
Yes, I’m a bit bitter about this trend, as well as the other epidemic in musical theater: the Jukebox Musical, which consists of buying the rights to a pop star/group’s musical catalog and creating a show around it. I’m not the only hardcore musical junkie who despises these desecrations of the American Musical Theater and this could go into a loooong diatribe/essay about the state of the American Musical Theater but now isn’t the time and the place. I need to focus on the 5th Avenue’s new production of A Christmas Story. A musical based on a beloved motion picture. Is it very original? Of course not. Is it a near replica of the motion picture? Yes, down to the smallest details. Is it as much fun as the original film and will I like it and is it worth taking my family to go see it? Of course it is! I might be grinchy about the state of the American Musical Theater but I’m not a heartless monster. A Christmas Story: The Musical is a ridiculously charming holiday musical with an endearing story, comically rich characters and situations, beautifully designed and realized stagecraft and a stage full of talented, gung ho actors. It’s glossy and glittery but still retains the warmth and charm of the original story and it is determined to both entertain you and warm the cockles of your bitter old heart. It’s a sweet show and I liked it very much, and I can whole heartedly recommend it to people looking for light, familiar, glossy, musical theater entertainment. It’s not a perfect show and it’s packaged to the teeth and you’re not going to leave the theater humming the music, but it is pretty eye candy. If that’s what you’re looking for, it’s a great entertainment. If you need theater with more meat on its bones, then it’s probably not the show for you.
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| The Old Man (John Bolton) and his Major Award, aka, the Leg Lamp sequence in ‘A Christmas Story”. Photo by Chris Bennion/5th Avenue Theatre. |
I’m not going to do ANY kind of synopsis of this show. Most of you have seen the film, and the plot of this show is nearly identical to the plot of the original. (The only omission that I can tell, the “Orphan Annie De-coder Ring” sequence which, frankly, was a weaker element in the film without much payoff and it’s not missed here.) ALL the major plot points and beloved bits are included: Randy putting on the snowsuit; Randy and Mother and the “little piggy” mashed potatoes sequence; the Old Man’s battle with the furnace; the tongue on the flag pole; Ralphie’s fantasy sequence where he saves the day with his Red Ryder; the infamous “F” word/soap bit; the visit to Santa; the “Leg Lamp”; the fight with Scut; the Bunny Suit; the ruined dinner and the visit to the Chinese restaurant…it’s ALL here, down to the EXACT dialogue used in the film. Fans of the film will NOT be disappointed. No one’s leaving the theater saying, “But, they left out my favorite scene!”
Fortunately, the creators and designers of this show have freshened up many of the sequences and made them more theatrical and visually appropriate for the stage. Ralphie’s Act I fantasy sequence where he dreams of the heroics he could perform if he had a Red Ryder is simply titled, “Ralphie to the Rescue” but the number is big, flashy and charming as hell as Ralphie battles villains, pirates, monsters, bandits, and various beasts and monsters while saving his teacher, classmates and family. It was a fantastic, show stopping number and it has “this is the number we’ll perform on the Tony Awards!” written all over it. I’m a big grouch but I loved the number so much, I wanted them to do it again.
Act One also featured “Sticky Situation” involving a dare, some foolish boys, an icy flag pole and an errant tongue and it was a big crowd pleaser as well. But, it paled a bit in comparison to the previous number in the act, The Old Man’s ode to “A Major Award” which involved said Old Man, and two chorus lines of high stepping leg lamps in a funny homage to the Radio City Rockettes. The number was a tad too long for my taste, but the audience loved it and the performance by John Bolton as the Old Man. (Or, maybe this is the Tony Awards number?)
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| Ralphie (Clarke Hallum) visits Santa and his nasty elf in “A Christmas Story”. Photo by Chris Bennion/5th Avenue Theatre |
Act Two didn’t quite live up to Act One in the excitement factor of the production numbers, (a common problem in musical theater; it’s hard to follow up on a strong first act), but “You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out” had its charms, though it was basically just a reprise of Act One’s “Ralphie to the Rescue”. Mom had a sweet ballad, “Just Like That” as she consoles Ralphie after his fight with Scut Farkus and Anne Allgood delivered the song with maternal tenderness and warmth. And, the big ending number, “A Christmas Story” ends the show on the appropriate note of harmony and wistful cheer and successfully puts the story “to bed” as the snow falls on the happy Parker family. It’s cheesy, but cheese of the highest quality and charm.
I’m determined to NOT make this another long review so we’ll cut to the chase. What’s good about this show? Walt Spangler’s beautiful sets were both whimsical and practical. Elizabeth Hope Clancy’s costumes were almost a perfect match for the film’s costumes but she added enough detail and flash to make them seem fresh. Ian Eisendrath did his usual first rate job with the musical direction of the fine 5th Avenue Orchestra. All the production design and elements were of the highest quality…what you expect from a 5th Avenue production.
The show was VERY well cast with actors chosen that both embodied the original performances but enhanced them for the stage. John Bolton and Anne Allgood as the Old Man and Mother gave their characters a fresh spin and made me forget the original (excellent) film performances of Darren McGavin and Melinda Dillon with Mr Bolton an obviously younger and more energetic Old Man than Mr McGavin (complete with cart wheels in one dance sequence!) and Ms Allgood putting her own quirky, good natured spin on Mother. Stage veteran Frank Corrado made a fine narrator/Jean Shepherd and while Mr Corrado doesn’t have the unique speaking voice of Mr Shepherd, (who was the original writer of the story and provided the narration in the film), he’s a funny and charming substitute.
But, this is a show about kids, and frankly, these kids are alright. Both Dexter Johnson, as Flick and River Aguirre as Schwartz were perfect recreations of their film counterparts and performed with great energy and charm. Ashton Herrild as Scut Farkus and Keenan Barr as his crony Grover Dill were also crowd pleasers. The rest of the child ensemble, (there are twelve kids in this show) were professional and seasoned performers. They all did a great job.
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| Ralphie (Clarke Hallam) in the soap sequence. Photo by Chris Bennion/5th Avenue |
As for the Parker Boys, Ralphie and his little brother Randy, they are the REAL stars of A Christmas Story. Matthew Lewis as Randy is small and young, but his talent is large and ageless. He nicely shaded the character and made Randy an integral part of the ensemble. He also has a helluva voice….as does our star, Clarke Hallum, as Ralphie. Young Mr Hallum is a local boy, from Olympia, with a love for musicals, singing and history. Based on his performance in this show, I’ll say that Mr Hallum’s future history looks very, very bright; he gives a big, adult sized, thoroughly professional, star making performance as Ralphie Parker and he grounds the show with his own unique charisma, command of stage technique, and a confidence that belies his years. Oh, and a huge, bold voice that you can hear in the back row. If the fates are kind, Clarke Hallum will not age out of this role and they’ll get the show mounted on Broadway this year and take him with them. He deserves to be seen on Broadway. The audience fell in love with him and wanted to take him home after a few bars of his first big number. This kid is the real deal.
Now, for some constructive criticism about this show:
1)There are NUMEROUS references to “plastic” in this production…a production that takes place in 1940. There was NO plastic in 1940! I cringed every time I heard them say the word and they used it a lot since apparently in this show the infamous leg lamp is made out of it. Was it because if rhymed better in the songs? If so, that’s ridiculous because “ceramic” would work just as well?!?!?
2)The music is ok. Like many modern musicals, the music and lyrics are not up to the standards set by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Lerner & Lowe, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, or Kander & Ebb. There’s a couple of catchy numbers and the ending ballad/title song is sort of sweet, albeit not that original, but this isn’t going to be a score you’ll be humming in your shower in the morning.
3)A couple of songs need to go. Miss Shields, the teacher, has a nothing little song in the first act that had nothing to add to the show and only confused the audience. And, Mother’s first act song, “What a Mother Does” is cloying and dull. Kill it and find her another moment for a number…maybe a comic song with Randy and the “little piggy/mashed potatoes”?
4)The framing device for the musical is that it’s a radio broadcast with Jean Shepherd telling this story on the air. That’s fine, but the use of Radio actors and sound effects was distracting and didn’t really aid in telling the story. It felt clunky and too obvious.
5)This is a kid’s story but the adult roles have all been beefed up. It needs to be the other way around. More kids; less adults.
6)We need to SEE the Bumpus dogs. Use puppets/marionettes. It’ll be funny and charming. (see Avenue Q). Trust me.
7)The visit to the department store Santa was a bit flat. That number needs some fixing and I don’t think the set really worked there. The same thing with the visit to the Chinese restaurant. It needed to be funnier and more poignant.
Finally, a couple of star sightings to report. Peter Billingsley, the original Ralphie, was introduced from the stage during the opening remarks and took a bow from his seat in the audience. Mr Billingsley is now a successful film director/producer (Couple’s Retreat/Iron Man/The Break-Up) and he’s now one of the producers for this stage version heading to Broadway. Not introduced but seen outside at intermission, original “Flick” portrayer Scott Schwartz. You might remember, there was a fuss made a few years ago when it was discovered Mr Schwartz had supplemented his income with work performing in adult films. He’s apparently retired from porn and concentrates his career on marketing sports and film memorabilia.
Who’s this for? Fans of the film. Families looking for a holiday show not involving Scrooge or Nutcrackers. Musical theater junkies who want to add to their collection. People who want to be able to say in a year or so after this opens on Broadway, “I saw the original at the 5th Avenue” with a superior tone in their voice. You know…like the people who say that now about “Hairspray”.
– Michael Strangeways
