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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>‘A Christmas Story’ at Cleveland Play
House feels like home<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Bob
Abelman<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>News-Herald, Morning
Journal, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times,<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Geauga Times
Courier<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT
size=3>Member, International Association of Theatre Critics
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>This
review will appear in the <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">News-Herald</I>
on 12/6/13<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
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align=center><o:p><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>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.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>At first
glance, everything is wonderfully familiar and preserved as you remember it –
the heartwarming sentiment, the good-natured humor, the personal touches.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>But a closer look reveals new wrinkles
that add charm and character without undermining cherished first
impressions.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>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.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>“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.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Here we find his 9-year-old self, who
wants an official Red Ryder 200-shot Carbine Action Range Model Air Rifle for
Christmas.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>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.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>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.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>No matter our respective backgrounds,
this play feels like home.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>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.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Characters were broadly painted as
well.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>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.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>We are offered a full
exterior view of the family home, which takes up the majority of the Allen
Theatre stage.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>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.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>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.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>All this introduces
much appreciated, well choreographed activity to a play that relies largely on
Ralph’s direct-address narration to tell the story.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Jeff Talbott, as the
omnipresent Ralph, is wonderful.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>He
manages to deliver the play’s ample exposition with astounding speed without
sacrificing an ounce of elocution, charm or humor.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>His younger self is
played by a delightful Matthew Taylor.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>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.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Carisa Tanner and Cameron Danielle Nelson are enchanting as the young
girls in Ralphie’s life.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Michael Heintzman as the
Old Man does a remarkable job of capturing the remnant boy in this authoritative
father figure.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>His comic timing is
impeccable and his goofy demeanor is immediately endearing. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Endearing also captures what Maggie Lacey
brings to the role of Ralphie’s sensible and supportive Mother.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Laura Perrotta is perfect as the
archetypal schoomarm. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>There is genuine comfort
in seeing something as familiar as “A Christmas Story,” even if you’ve never
seen it before.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Welcome back. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Welcome home.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>“A Christmas Story”
continues through December 22 in The Cleveland Play House’s Allen Theatre.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For tickets, which range from $25 to
$72, call 216-241-6000 or visit </FONT></SPAN></I><A href=""><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT color=#0000ff
size=3>www.clevelandplayhouse.com</FONT></SPAN></I></A><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT
size=3>.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></I></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>