A Special Christmas Gift from MMT

To my mind, there are not a lot of truly great comedies that have been written as books, then for the stage and screen, and "A Christmas Story" by Jean Shepherd is one of the most appealing of them.

Last night at Mill Mountain Theatre,  this assessment came to light yet again with MMT's superb translation of this hilarious story of a Midwestern kid in the 1950s who desperately covets a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas.

His mom, and nearly everybody else who hears about his Christmas wish warns, "You'll shoot your eye out!" That has become an iconic phrase in a story full of both the phrases and the scenes that would go in the dictionary to illustrate a definition of the point being made.

 It's one iconic scene after another; the kid who sticks his tongue to the frozen lamp pole; the neighbors' dogs running off with the Thanksgiving turkey; Ralphie beating up the bully; Ralph Sr. cursing in such a way that nobody can understand him; little brother Randy in his snowsuit; the "major prize" of a lamp stockinged leg.

This production, in which all the children acting are from the Roanoke Valley, is flush with a lavish set designed by the talented Jimmy Ray Ward and built by Matt Shields, Savannah Woodruff, Drew Callahan, Trenten Woods and Nicole Fagan. 

Those kids are in middle and elementary schools and include Calan Johnson (as Ralphie), Eve McLoney (a girl playing little brother Randy), Drew D'Alessandro, Jack Swank, Belle McNamara and Emily Mower. 

The professionals among the actors are Julia Vander Veen, Scott Watson and Broadway veteran Timothy Booth, among others. Kayla Ryan Walsh, as Ralphie's teacher, steals every scene she is in.

Creative Director Ginger Poole Avis directs this production and does so with gusto. It is an over-the-top production that occasionally requires a delicate touch--especially when directing children, no matter how talented.

Let me, as a huge fan of the story, strongly recommend "A Christmas Story." It's that prize under the tree that nobody expects.