Review: A CHRISTMAS STORY Continues the Marathon at Pittsburgh Public Theater

It's back! Just last year I made the prediction that Philip Grecian's A Christmas Story: The Play would become a yearly staple, becoming the Christmas equivalent of Rocky Horror. To my delight, I was correct. Distinct from the more popular but more sentimentalized musical version by Pasek and Paul, Grecian's play version amplifies the farcical qualities and kid-brain surrealism of Jean Shepherd's memoirs into a fast, funny and chaotic offering. It may run two and a half hours, but this one flies by like a ninety minute movie without commercials.

The crackerjack cast from last year is mostly all back: Tim McGeever and Jamie Agnello as the Old Man and Mother, Ralphie's madcap parents, John Shepard as the Narrator/Red Ryder, and even Eamonn McElfresh as bully Scut Farkas. (Request to the director and producers: child actors age out, but don't let McElfresh stop playing Scut. This is the kind of show where a 36-year-old man as a school bully is not only not impossible but stylistically appropriate.) Of course, a show like this needs a great performer in the lead role, and Sebastian Madoni, who debuted Ralphie at the Public last year, returns in the bunny suit and thick-rimmed glasses again. These central performers are seasoned but loose: the wackiness of the material still gets to shine, but never gets too sloppy or self-indulgent. I looked forward to the "Nutcracker Suite" pantomime between McGeever and Agnello all year, and I'm glad to say it's still here, full of physical comedy that Lucy and Desi would be jealous of.

The crowd at my performance seemed into the show, but unsure to what extent they were to participate. There were moments when John Shepard, as the narrator, turned to the audience clearly expecting a little back and forth, only to have to prompt and prod until they gave in and talked back to him. Michael Berresse has struck a fantastic balance of looseness and tightness in this show, but I can't help but feel the communal/participatory element is sitting on the verge of breaking through. Even if it's one moment of the audience being cued to shout "YOU'LL SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT," panto-style, to demolish the fouth wall that has been accumulating cracks throughout the entire evening, that feels like it would put the show over the top once and for all.

Part of the fun of a traditional production like this is tracking the little changes made over the years. This year, the biggest change is the recasting of Schwartz to be played by Kaaveri Patil as a tomboy, perhaps a little anachronistic but still refreshing and new. Even a tiny twist like this helps to distingush the near-identical characters of Schwartz and Flick (Colin Bozick), and also points up more notably that Ralphie is one of the loser kids with bad luck and limited academic success, not just one of "the boys." Bozick and Patil have great comic chops, and have already mastered the switch between relatively realist acting in the "real world" scenes and the campy "bad acting" style required by the dream sequences.

I obviously can't claim to be an expert, but I'd be shocked if this Berresse production doesn't return next holiday season, and many to come. And just like the TBS 24-hour marathon, I'll be there watching it again, as eager as a kid at Christmas.

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