Cara Chumbley, Fulton Young, Ben Pisel, and Bobby Becher in “A Christmas Story: The Musical" at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse -- November 8 through December 30.
Wednesday, November 8, through Saturday, December 30
Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, 1828 Third Avenue, Rock Island IL
Nominated for three 2013 Tony Awards including Best Musical and described by Broadway World as “a twinkling Christmas delight,” the yuletide treat A Christmas Story: The Musical enjoys a November 8 through December 30 run at Rock Island's Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, the show's score by the Oscar- and Tony-winning team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul inspiring the New York Times to rave, “You'd have to have a Grinch-sized heart not to feel a smile spreading across your face.”
Based on the 1983 film classic and set in the fictional town of Hohman, Indiana, in the 1940s, A Christmas Story: The Musical follows nine-year-old Ralphie Parker and his quest for the Holy Grail of Christmas gifts: an Official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot Range Model air rifle. Rebuffed at every turn with a similar echoing response, Ralphie plots numerous schemes to achieve his desperate desire for the coveted BB gun. Meanwhile, all of the iconic scenes that audiences fondly recall from the movie are found in its musical adaptation: Ralphie's friend Flick getting his tongue stuck to the flagpole; his brother Randy getting dressed in his suffocating snowsuit; the bullies Farkus and Dill; the leg-lamp Major Award; Ralphie's bunny suit; the family dinner at a Chinese restaurant; and many, many more.
With its score running the gamut from gentle ballads to show-stopping ensemble numbers, and its songs including such titles as “Before the Old Man Comes Home,” “When You're a Wimp,” and the delightfully inevitable “You'll Shoot Your Eye Out!”, A Christmas Story: The Musical received Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations for Pasek's and Paul's compositions. Pasek and Paul had their first Broadway smash with the 2015 musical Dear Evan Hansen, which won six 2016 Tonys including Best Musical and Best Score. Later that year, they served as songwriters for the score to the film La La Land, eventually earning an Oscar for “City of Stars” and a nomination for “Audition.” And Pasek and Paul followed that success by writing songs for movies including the Christmas Carol adaptation Spirited and 2017's sleeper smash The Greatest Showman, which earned the duo another Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe as lyricists for the radio smash “This Is Me.”
With the show last produced at Circa '21 in 2013, the theatre's new rendition of A Christmas Story: The Musical is being directed and choreographed by venue veteran Ashley Becher, who previously helmed productions of Irving Berlin's White Christmas, Seussical, and Just Desserts, with music direction by area favorite Ron May. Kendall McKasson serves as stage manager, and additional members of Becher's creative team include: producer Dennis Hitchcock; production manager Jeremy Littlejohn; set designer and scenic artist Becky Meissen; costume designer Bradley Robert Jensen; lighting designer Heather Hauskins; sound designer Ben Takitch; master carpenter Richard Baker; and assistant stage manager and deck captain Emmett Boedeker.
Portraying narrator Jean Shepherd is Mark McGinn, a longtime Quad City Music Guild favorite who also appeared in Circa '21's 2021 holiday production Winter Wonderland, with the Parker family portrayed by Ben Pisel (Ralphie), Fulton Young (Randy), Cara Chumbley (Mother), and Bobby Becher (The Old Man). Additional memorable Christmas Story figures are enacted by Marlo Reed (Schwartz), Jack Carslake (Flick, and also Ralphie at certain performances), Bryce Hayden (Scut Farcus), and Luke Young (Grover Dill). And completing the ensemble are more than a dozen additional area talents: Adam Cerny; Tim Davis; Kyle DeFauw; Elena Doyno; Nathan Gallop; Brighton Greim (playing Flick and Randy at scheduled performances); Amelia Griffin; Marley Haley; Sophia Kilburg; Kiera Lynn; Lucy Peterson; Sophie Seamer; Savannah Bay Strandin; Sami Weathersby; Charleigh Weatherspoon; and Olivia Young.
In addition to its 7:30 p.m. public previews on November 8 and 9, A Christmas Story: The Musical runs in Rock Island from November 10 through December 30, with performances on Fridays, Saturdays, and Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m.; Sundays at 5:30 p.m.; and Wednesday afternoons at 1:15 p.m. All shows will be preceded by meals and pre-show entertainment by the theatre's performing wait staff of Circa '21 Bootleggers, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)786-7733 extension 2 and visiting Circa21.com.
