Ive never done a review of a theatrical work and this isnt one either. I have too many friends in the local theare to trust myself to be objective: Im always pulling for them and I defintely a homer where they are concerned. So when it comes to the Orday production of A Christmas Story: The Musical let me just say, Go see it! Youll enjoy it and that may inspire the Ordway to continue to use local talent, which they do to good effect in this production. Im writing today to help you prepare for the experience. First of all, GO EARLY! There is so much going on in downtown St. Paul at this time of year that ypull want to save yourself the frustration of driving around for half an hour (or longer) to find a parking place. Going early will allow you to be in your seat well before curtain, instead of dashing in one minute before the lights go down, like I did. The lucky ones will be those who have no previous exposure to the works of Jean Shepherd or their most popular expression, the movie Christmas Story. I lose on both counts: Shep is one of my favorite writers (or story-tellers) and the I film is so familiar to me that I can quote it almost verbatum. That was a very large hurdle for me to overcome. This cast, either has never seen the film (which seems unlikely) or they have been directed to assiduously avoid any similarity in their chacterization and line delivery to those of the film cast. This was expecially hard for me to accept in the characters of the Old Man and Jean Shepherd. The Old Man is played by Dieter Bierbrauer more in the spirit of Aurthur Lakes Dagwood than Darren Mcgavins curmudgeon: a big departure. Gary Briggle made Shep a little too glib and urbane to be a true depiction of the scruffy Shepherd. The good news is, once I was able to put aside my preconceptions, both won me over. The film is a very intimate exsperience, played out in series of scenes that work best when the camera is close, picking up the minutiae of the characterizations, something that simply cannot be repoduced on stage, given the distance between actors and audience. Its no surprise then that A Christmas Story: The Musical works best when it is opened up to give us a series of big production numbers: Ralphie to the Rescue! and Youll Shoot Your Eye Out! were the standouts for me, with Erin Schwab practically stealing the show as Miss Shields in the latter. In short, prepare yourself before you go. Vist a hypnotist, if you have to, and get your memory wiped clean. This is a show that deserves to stand on its own legs. One more thing: the pit band is great and they are called upon to supply a lot of comedic counterpoint to the action, which they do perfectly and with great aplumb. Now, go see it, if you can.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 11:54:39 +0000
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