Backstage @ New Rep

"A Christmas Story" is a Delight!

Okay, let me just admit it up front. I was really puzzled as to why anyone would want to meddle with the perfection of A Christmas Story (the movie, that is) by putting it on stage.

The New Rep’s wonderful production put my skepticism to rest. It was a delight, and, by the way, totally appropriate for children. They won’t get all the jokes, but they’ll have fun. I can’t imagine a better way for a family to spend an evening in retreat from the chaos of the holidays than watching a comic take on this family’s chaos.

And it’s all there, from the notorious lamp that appears to have been lifted from a bordello to the bored and cynical department store Santa. All through the play I puzzled about how the neighbor’s obstreperous hounds could do their part. I won’t tell, but it was hilarious.

Philip Grecian’s adaptation of Studs Terkel’s charming script captures the spirit of the original and brings it to life in a completely new way. Of particular note was the appearance of the narrator as a character. Barlow Adamson’s performance was a highlight of the evening without detracting from the story itself. The director knew just when to have him insert himself into the action and when he should stay in the shadows as he tells the story.

The children in the cast, many of whom have impressive acting resumes, were perfectly rehearsed. Of particular note are Andrew Cekala who maintains the far-away dreamy look on Ralphie’s face as he schemes and dreams of his Red Ryder rifle. Owen Doyle is outstanding as The Old Man. His disguised profanity rings across the theatre as he vents his frustration with the furnace, the inadequate electrical wiring and the dogs who bark only at him. And he let us see the kind father underneath, somewhat baffled by his family, but soldiering on. He is, of course, as much an ambitious dreamer as his son.

The sets cleverly rearrange themselves from the perfect 50’s kitchen to the schoolroom to the department store Santa’s throne. And Gerard Slattery does a fine job of the bored, cynical – and clearly weary – Santa, terrifying the little children who he has clearly come to loathe. He and Margaret Ann Brady fill out the cast by assuming multiple roles.

I long to tell you about how the dogs manage to ruin Christmas dinner, but you’ll have to go and see it yourself.

~ Johanna Ettin (with Shauna Shames)