[NEohioPAL] Review of "A Christmas Story" at Cleveland Play House

[Bob Abelman]

 'A Christmas Story' at Cleveland Play House feels like home

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Morning Journal, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times,

Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review will appear in the News-Herald on 12/6/13

 

 

The return of Philip Grecian's delightful "A Christmas Story" to Cleveland Play House is like discovering an old holiday card from a beloved relative in a bundled stack of forgotten correspondences.  At first glance, everything is wonderfully familiar and preserved as you remember it - the heartwarming sentiment, the good-natured humor, the personal touches.  But a closer look reveals new wrinkles that add charm and character without undermining cherished first impressions.  

 

Last produced in 2009 after a five-year run and based on a film shot largley in Cleveland 30 years old, this play is a joyous, sentimental celebration of the holiday season.  

 

"A Christmas Story" introduces us to an amiable gray-haired fellow named Ralph, who takes us back to the Indiana suburb of his youth in December of 1938.  Here we find his 9-year-old self, who wants an official Red Ryder 200-shot Carbine Action Range Model Air Rifle for Christmas.  We witness Ralphie's assorted schemes to get the BB gun and, in doing so, are introduced to his quirky but loving family, his mildly dysfunctional friends and a comfortable, contented middle-America during a much simpler time. 

 

This is not our youth and these are not our romanticized recollections, but the simple storytelling in this play, the timeless and universal truths about childhood it taps, and its tender, nostalgic reflections on Christmas trigger our own fond memories.  No matter our respective backgrounds, this play feels like home.

 

Past productions offered exaggerated, almost cartoonish representations of the family's living room, the street corner, Ralphie's school room and the Higbee's showroom, as if the show were a cross between a Charles Schultz and Dr. Seuss TV special.  Characters were broadly painted as well.

 

Here, director John McCluggage and his designers Robert Mark Morgan (scenic), Michael Boll (lighting), James Swonger (sound) and David Kay Micheksen (costumes) deliver a more realistic rendition.  

 

We are offered a full exterior view of the family home, which takes up the majority of the Allen Theatre stage.  The house is then rotated - rather loudly - on a huge lazy-Susan to reveal its well-worn, much loved, and nicely detailed interior living space.   

 

Another turntable surrounding the house allows complementary set pieces to fly in with relative stealth and characters to walk briskly from place to place without actually going anywhere.  All this introduces much appreciated, well choreographed activity to a play that relies largely on Ralph's direct-address narration to tell the story.

 

Jeff Talbott, as the omnipresent Ralph, is wonderful.  He manages to deliver the play's ample exposition with astounding speed without sacrificing an ounce of elocution, charm or humor.  

 

His younger self is played by a delightful Matthew Taylor.  While the other boys in the play - Cole Emerine, as Flick; Lee Green, as Schwartz; Skipper Rankin, as Randy; and John Cugel, as Scut Farkas - are adorable, Taylor comes closest to resembling a real boy rather than a young actor playing a real boy.   Carisa Tanner and Cameron Danielle Nelson are enchanting as the young girls in Ralphie's life.

 

Michael Heintzman as the Old Man does a remarkable job of capturing the remnant boy in this authoritative father figure.  His comic timing is impeccable and his goofy demeanor is immediately endearing.  Endearing also captures what Maggie Lacey brings to the role of Ralphie's sensible and supportive Mother.  Laura Perrotta is perfect as the archetypal schoomarm. 

 

There is genuine comfort in seeing something as familiar as "A Christmas Story," even if you've never seen it before.  Welcome back.  Welcome home.  

 

"A Christmas Story" continues through December 22 in The Cleveland Play House's Allen Theatre.  For tickets, which range from $25 to $72, call 216-241-6000 or visit www.clevelandplayhouse.com.
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