I’ve had several friends ask me how I liked A Christmas Story: The Musical. Every one of them has added, “It’s my favorite Christmas movie ever!” and I think they’re wondering the same thing Eli and I did as we drove to the theater Tuesday night:
How can you possibly translate a classic like this into a Broadway musical without kinda…messing it up?
I don’t have a concrete answer for that, and I’m not sure many people do. I’ve seen a few “movies-into-musicals” that left me shaking my head because they seemed to deviate so far from the original.
But this one? It was SO good!
I mean, really, really good.
I can’t recall ever getting teary-eyed during the dozens of times I’ve watched the film version of A Christmas Story. The tale of Ralphie Parker’s insatiable Christmas quest to acquire the coolest BB gun ever is more far more hilarious than sentimental.
But this show had me reaching for the Kleenex twice! Once was during “What a Mother Does”–a lovely song about how moments with our children are so fleeting. Honestly, it touched me so much, I kind of wanted to ugly-cry. But for my son’s sake, I held it together.
The other was during the ending, which I found considerably more emotional than the film’s.
BUT the musical is also loaded with laughs! The entire cast did a fantastic job, and we loved the scene where Ralphie’s teacher tap-danced with her students. Simply brilliant talent on display!
Christmas comes only once a year, and we moms deserve “A Major Award” just as much as Ralphie’s old man. I highly recommend treating yourself to a theater date this weekend!
Five shows remain: Friday and Saturday night at 8:00 pm, Saturday at 2:00 pm, and on Sunday, 1:00 pm or 6:30 pm.
Click here to get tickets at The Fabulous Fox in Atlanta.
