"A Christmas Story" Provides The Correct Dose of Holiday Cheer

By Jana Pollack, New Rep Reviewer

I must begin this review by admitting that I always approach holiday-themed theater with a pre-determined judgement. As a rule, I am disgruntled and annoyed by the holidays, and I've never liked the idea of devoting plays to their singular theme. And so, I reveal here that I entered the theater on Monday night expecting to not really enjoy the show.

But here is my Christmas truth: by the end of the show, I was feeling warm and sentimental. I was also feeling grateful to New Rep for making a new and inspired choice for this year's holiday show, one that did eventually embrace the shmaltz of the season, but only alongside a healthy dose of sarcasm and good humor. "A Christmas Story" is earnest, true to the world of childhood, and really, at its core, quite sweet. New Rep's version is all of those things, and it is also a very entertaining two hours.

This show was universally well-done. Each actor was really excellent, adults and kids alike. As young Ralphie, Andrew Cekala stood out with exceptional stage presence and pitch-perfect delivery. Owen Doyle also drew many laughs as The Old Man, and Stacy Fischer gave a very smart performance as Mother. In the small but influential role of the teacher, Margaret Ann Brady was hilarious. Each child actor showed talent beyond his or her years, and gave a confident, true performance. Although these are stock characters that could easily be one-dimensional, in this production each one appeared fully rounded and complete, and I found myself invested in these people and their day to day lives.

At the very end of the show, the narrator (Barlow Adamson, doing as much as he could with a frustratingly limiting part) extols on the virtues of love, family, and christmas. This is the moment that I was dreading, and I can't say that it won me over completely. But I'd had so much fun, and was feeling so happy for the family I'd just been a watchful part of, that I didn't mind at all.