By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“)
Since its release in 1982, New Orleans native Bob Clark’s “A Christmas Story” has been part of the holiday landscape, helped along by its cult status promoted in marathon showings over the TNT and TBS cable systems since the 1990s.
If you’re unfamiliar with the Jean Shepard saga of the Parker family and in particular of Ralphie Parker, a kid growing up in Indiana in the late 1940s and early 1950s, then you’re sure to know of his quest to find the ultimate Christmas present: a Red Rider Carbine Action 200-shot Air Rifle BB gun.
The unknown Peter Billingsley carried off the Ralphie role, intended to be based on several of the Jean Shepherd stories he read over New York City radio. Playing his father, the Old Man, was the late Darren McGavin and the mother was Melinda Dillon, who left us just this past year.
Holiday movies like “Irving Berlin’s ‘White Christmas’ and ‘Holiday Inn'” as well as “Elf” have been adapted into full-fledged stage musicals in recent years and since 2012, when it opened for a limited run on Broadway, A Christmas Story, the Musical has played nearly every year since as part of a national tour.
With music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Dear Evan Hansen) and a book by Joseph Robinette , A Christmas Story, the Musical played here on tour in 2019 when it was part of the Broadway in New Orleans series.
Now, Rivertown Theaters for the Performing Arts is presenting the musical for the first time as a local production (JPAS did a version of the film as a straight play some years ago, too.)
New Orleans’ own Ricky Graham, a comedic actor and writer in his own rarified air, serves as the director of this musical, a romp back to a simpler time and place than our own. The musical transports us to Holman, Indiana and the epicenter of its Christmas holiday celebration, Higbee’s Department Store.
Beau Bradley Coodou plays the role of Ralphie to great effect. He has a highly trained voice that fills the stage and his endearing performance carries the weight of the entire show. It’s obvious he earned the casting for this lead role by the sheer volume of talent in his pint-sized body.
Fresh off his recent role as the Proprietor in Assassins, Michael John Smith also turns in a particularly strong performance as The Old Man. Shepherd described Ralphie and Randy’s father as a charming reprobate who had a way with off color words: “He worked in profanity the way other artists might work in oils or clay. It was his true medium; a master.”
He is a representation of the working class Joe of the post-World War II’s “greatest generation,” the guys who volunteered to put down Hitler and his fascist cronies and who looked to the American Dream for an opportunity to get ahead. The Old Man loves a bargain and a challenge. He considers himself an authority on virtually everything: from rapid tire changing in the fashion of the pits at the Indianapolis 500 to jousting with his home furnace.
Smith’s best outing is in the over-the-top production song “A Major Award” in which he trumpets the virtues of the “leg lamp” he has been awarded for winning a trivia contest. Anna Birbiglia’s hysterical choreography of dancing leg lamps in a line as support for Smith is one of the most inspired of fantasy numbers. There’s little doubt that the practiced hand of the director is also responsible for making this moment quite “de-light-ful.”
In his scenes with the family, the Old Man is the rock, the disciplinarian Ralph and Randy fear most, but is is Mother who generally is in charge of the boys’ upbringing. Laurie Reinagel turns in a very good performance in her role and adds an additional layer of authenticity to her character in her relationship with Smith as husband and wife.
Reinagel shines in what is one of the most quiet and endearing of scenes in which she consoles Ralphie and Randy after a school brawl. “Just Like That” allows her to calm down both boys and for her to show her maternal side.
David L. Haydel, Jr. serves as the narrator in the show, assuming the amiable role of Jean Shepherd recounting his childhood for the benefit of his radio audience. At times he also assumes other minor roles such as the fictional Red Ryder. His charming presence is a welcome device that accompanies the action on stage.
Ralphie and Randy have two major songs in Act II in which the two young actors hold the rapt attention of the audience. The first is the tender “Before the Old Man Comes Home” in which they attempt to ease the pain of their father in his darkest hour. The other song is the anxious, expectant “Somewhere Hovering Over Indiana” that distills the feelings the sleepless brothers share knowing that Santa Claus is nearby.
Numerous other comedy bits taken from the movie make the musical highly enjoyable including “A Sticky Situation” in which Flick (Luke Deroche) is triple-dog dared to stick his tongue to a frozen flagpole and “Up on Santa’s Lap” in which Ralphie and Randy attempt to speak to the Higbee’s Department Store Santa. Michael Meadows plays a very jaded Santa, while Kelly Amstutz and Luke Sirinides provide support in the number as the chief elves.
Superb lighting is by Scott Sauber with excellent costume designs by Daniel Rigamer and wigs by Laurin Hart. Musical direction is by Justin Blanchard, while Emery Foster handles the scenic design. Sound design is by Kage Laney.
The two dozen ensemble cast members all do credit to their parts, some acting as elves at Higbees, while others portray Ralphie and Randy’s classmates. Named actors are Cayden Pecoraro as Schwartz, Luke DeRoche as Flick, Anna Kramer as Esther Jane, Caitlin Picone as Mary Beth and Andrew Eastland as Scut Farkus.
Perfectly timed for the season, this is a holiday treat that need not be left under the tree.
A Christmas Story, the Musical, directed by Ricky Graham, finishes its run this Sunday, Dec. 17 at Rivertown Theaters for the Performing Arts, 325 Minor Street in Kenner, LA. Tickets are available here or by calling 504-461-9475.
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