BWW Reviews: A CHRISTMAS STORY at The Bushnell Kicks Up its Leg Lamps

A CHRISTMAS STORY - THE MUSICAL
Theatre: The Bushnell
Location: 166 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, CT
Production: Book by Joseph Robinette, Music and Lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul; Directed by John Rando; Choreography by Warren Carlyle; Scenic Design by Walt Spangler; Lighting Design by Howell Binkley; Costume Design by Elizabeth Hope Clancy; Sound Design by Ken Travis. Through November 17; Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m.; Friday at 8 p.m. Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.; Sunday at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.; Tickets $29-$95.50, call 860-987-5900 or visit www.bushnell.org.

I'm one of those folks that firmly believes the Christmas season starts after Thanksgiving. Walking through CVS the day after Halloween, it enrages me that the holiday products are already on the shelves. As such, I was a bit cranky and trepidatious heading into The Bushnell for the kick-off of the one-week engagement of A Christmas Story - The Musical. It's mid-November, people! My lawn still needs raking and I'm not ready to say goodbye to Pumpkin Spice Lattes.

I'm happy to report that my Scrooge-like frown turned upside down by this diverting musical. A Christmas Story, the 1983 sleeper hit film, works its magic by mining our nostalgia for our collective memories of childhood Christmases. Who couldn't relate to the fantasies, imagination, fears and, of course, that one gift that we pinned all our hopes on receiving?

A Christmas Story - The Musical works by mining our nostalgia for A Christmas Story. You could certainly have a worse starting point. Thanks to endless repeats, many of us know the film word for word. Indelible lines like "You'll shoot your eye out," "Red Ryder Carbine Action BB Gun," and "It's a major award!" are not only here, but now capitalized into song titles and musicalized.

The book is credited to Joseph Robinette, although a fairly large portion of the dialogue and narration are taken directly from the screenplay by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown and Bob Clark. To Robinette's credit, the material he has added to the script stands on its own and is genuinely funny. The scenes lifted wholesale from the film elicit chuckles of recognition, but the moments where the musical asserts its own humor actually prove to be the show's high moments. Fortunately, there are plenty of such moments. One of the most affecting scenes in the musical, a song shared between Ralphie and his brother Randy, is wholly original to the play.

The songs by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul are a welcome return to the sound of a traditional Broadway score. After a parade of juke box musicals and film adaptations that borrow tunes from their source material, it is refreshing to be confronted with a 100% original score (even if the plot and dialogue are not 100% original). Although nothing in the score raises itself to the level of what one would consider a likely classic, there are enough enjoyable tunes and lyrics to keep you (and little ones) engaged.

Standing in for the film's narrator and this Christmas story's original writer, Jean Shepherd, is Dan Lauria. Although a non-singing role, Lauria is playful and altogether delightful as his own Ghost of Christmas Past. Playing Shepherd's childhood alter-ego Ralphie is the extremely talented Jake Lucas. Lucas does not seek to render an imitation of Peter Billingsley's film Ralphie. As such, he taps into the everyboy that lies at the heart of A Christmas Story.

As Ralphie's mother, Erin Dilly recreates the role she originated on Broadway. Dilly makes us think of this part as completely separate from the film role with no ill effect from the comparison. Conversely, John Bolton's performance as The Old Man, Ralphie's father, is so grotesquely overplayed at almost every turn that one pines for the subtle charms of the late, great Darren McGavin. The musical's most misguided moment is the overblown "A Major Award." Although visually a hoot, the number takes the focus away from Ralphie's imagination and hands the already over-the-top Bolton a chance to serve up a gargantuan portion of Easter ham five-and-a-half months ahead of schedule.

Bolton could take a tip from the scene-stealing Caroline O'Connor as Ralphie's teacher, Miss Shields. O'Connor knows when to cede the stage to the kiddies and when to slyly insert a howler of a line. And, speaking of the kiddies in the cast, they are from top-to-bottom a delight. I'm not only a Scrooge, but definitely a Grinch when it comes to kids overacting onstage. The child cast of A Christmas Story is incredibly talented, filled with natural born comedians, singers and dancers. One in particular, young Luke Spring, is a pint-sized tapping dynamo that threatened to stop the show during "You'll Shoot Your Eye Out."

Yes, in super-sizing what was a fairly small film, some of the story's charm is lost. Fortunately, moments where Ralphie's imagination runs wild prove even more fun in the musical than the movie. By the end of the show, when the elated audience was leaving the theatre, I found myself hoping it would be snowing outside. In mid-November, thanks to A Christmas Story, I was already hoping for a little Christmas magic in a way that a trip to CVS would never hope to generate.

Photo of Dan Lauria by Carol Rosegg.

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