Holiday classic 'A Christmas Story: The Musical' comes to sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Little Theatre
Stick yourself to a seat and not a frozen pole at 鈥淎 Christmas Story: The Musical,鈥 opening Friday, Dec. 5, at the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Little Theatre.
Director Tanner Sroufe said the musical is quite similar to the movie and holds the same theme of yearning for something you really want, like a Red Ryder Carbine Action BB Gun.
鈥淚t鈥檚 got all the big points that are in the movie that everyone loves and remembers ...鈥 Sroufe said. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 skimp on any big, iconic moments in the movie.鈥
Timothy Chivalette, who plays the narrator, was on a brief hiatus from acting, but dove back in for the musical. He said he loved the movie and has connected with his character.
鈥淭his has been one of those shows where I definitely start seeing the perspective from the parents鈥 side a lot, so I鈥檓 using that within the character,鈥 Chivalette said. 鈥淏ecause the older you get, the more you realize that your parents were trying as hard as they could.鈥
Where Chivalette found himself relating to his parents, Mary Brzezinski, who plays Mother Parker, found the production helped her connect with her grandmother.
鈥淪he kind of reminds me of my grandmother 鈥︹ Brzezinski said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 no longer with us, but it鈥檚 really, really fun bringing up memories of her and thinking how would she have handled something like this?鈥
鈥淚 actually wore some earrings of hers that I had in that photo shoot,鈥 Brzezinski said. 鈥(It) feels really nice to connect with my grandmother again.鈥
Brzezinski said the show鈥檚 theme is family and togetherness during the holidays 鈥 set in a small-town, homey atmosphere.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of a typical Hallmark-style kind of vibe, where we鈥檙e showing this very small town with a great family and a great bunch of friends that all play together and pull shenanigans together,鈥 Brzezinski said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really just showing how a family kind of operates, but during the holidays,鈥 Brzezinski said, 鈥渁nd so it鈥檚 very heartwarming, and a lot of love is shown throughout the show in different ways.鈥
The musical is set in the 1940s in Hohman, Indiana, and Sroufe said that it has been beautifully translated to the stage.
鈥淛ason Roman is our set designer and master carpenter, and I鈥檝e been hanging out with him the last two days, helping build the set,鈥 Sroufe said, 鈥渁nd he鈥檚 just a super genius. Everything鈥檚 gonna look so good, and visually it鈥檚 going to be beautiful.鈥
Chivalette said the show focuses on yearning for an item 鈥 with the BB gun leading to Ralphie鈥檚 best remembered Christmas.
鈥淚t really plays with the idea that what you consider your best memories were probably not 100% the best things ever,鈥 Chivalette said, 鈥渂ut the culmination of all the hard work into the big wants.鈥