PhotosPHOTO EXCLUSIVE: "What a Mother Does..." Behind the Scenes at A Christmas Story, The Musical with Jenny Lee SternMusical comedy dynamo Jenny Lee Stern, most recently seen in Forbidden Broadway, is back on the New York stage this winter in the holiday return of A Christmas Story, The Musical. She documented some of the backstage fun as the show kicked off its Madison Square Garden engagement following stops in Hartford and Boston.
By
Matthew Blank
December 17, 2013
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PHOTO EXCLUSIVE: "What a Mother Does..." Behind the Scenes at A Christmas Story, The Musical with Jenny Lee Stern
PHOTO EXCLUSIVE: "What a Mother Does..." Behind the Scenes at A Christmas Story, The Musical with Jenny Lee Stern
Musical comedy dynamo Jenny Lee Stern, most recently seen in Forbidden Broadway, is back on the New York stage this winter in the holiday return of A Christmas Story, The Musical. She documented some of the backstage fun as the show kicked off its Madison Square Garden engagement following runs in Hartford and Boston.
49 PHOTOS
Hello friends, and Seasons Greetings! Jenny Lee Stern here. With my fancy-dancy ALL ACCESS pass, Loretta "Bunny" Rosenthal-Schwartz will give you a behind the scenes glimpse into A Christmas Story, playing Madison Square Garden in NYC.
Jenny Lee Stern
My first day of school. A girl, a leg lamp, a script, and a dream.
Jenny Lee Stern
The Boston crew turned it out and decked the halls for us backstage!
Jenny Lee Stern
Our STAR! Broadway Newsie Jake Lucas (Ralphie) signs in for the day.
Jenny Lee Stern
Just a simple bald girl. Then in the magic hands of the strapping and gifted Jeff Knaggs, I become Bunny Schwartz. Before your very eyes.
Tanya Birl tries a new look for the opening number. Merry Christmas, mon.
Jenny Lee Stern
Look who I found in the hallway! Its Flick. When he's not sticking his tongue to flagpoles he enjoys long walks on the beach, Real Housewives and anything "fierce." My favorite little Crispi Chicken Nugget, Michael Crispi!
Jenny Lee Stern
An actor prepares. Some on Pintrest…
Jenny Lee Stern
...some with extreme cowboy stretching. (and whatever Nick's doing) I mean, its your process. Go with it.
Jenny Lee Stern
Erin Dilly and the process of the Diva Juice. Get the ratios EXACTLY right or you're fired. After she beats you senseless. She's had 3 different dressers in the past 2 months. Being in 3 different cities is purely coincidence. THAT's what a mother does!
Jenny Lee Stern
Ms. Caroline O'Connor gets her daily intermission serenade. She loves it.
Jenny Lee Stern
Dan Lauria: the nicest TV dad on Broadway! Even takes the time to run the boys' football pool. So kind and generous on top of being an insane talent. And a pop culture icon.
Jenny Lee Stern
Everyday working side by side with John Bolton is like having access to a free comedy master class. Today we're working on "Funny Faces" or "Mugging" or "Do anything to get the laugh no matter how cheap and/or shameful." As you can see, we're nailing it.
Jenny Lee Stern
And back to neutral.
Jenny Lee Stern
The REAL stars of the show: Pete & Lily. Biggest laughs for the LEAST amount of stage time. Ah, its a dog's life…
Jenny Lee Stern
The lovely and talented Lindsay O'Neil as Bree Van deCamp as Mrs. Flick in "Desperate Christmas Housewives: The Musical.”
Jenny Lee Stern
Former Mary Poppins stars Lucas Schultz and Alexa Niziak reunite in A Christmas Story. Here they are giving me a little backstage mad hot ballroom action.
Jenny Lee Stern
Our beautiful child swing Gabriella Baldacchino (center, pigtails) goes on for the first time and the gang shows their support!
Jenny Lee Stern
Beada Briglia, Alexa Niziak and Hannah Isabel giving you a sensible warm-up.
Jenny Lee Stern
Then lookie-loo who joins in the fun! Of course. My sweet and delicious Apple Crispi. A la mode, of course.
Jenny Lee Stern
May The Schwartz Be With You. My stage son (Nicky Torchia) giving you face.
Jenny Lee Stern
Keven Quillon, Jose Luaces, and Tanya Birl get into character. Mad Elf Style.
Jenny Lee Stern
Gee whiz! What am I gonna do about this modern day bad-assery?
Jenny Lee Stern
Theatre magic folks! Now ya see it, now ya dont!
Jenny Lee Stern
Perfectly period painted lady ready to go rock a leg lamp 1940's bombshell style.
Jenny Lee Stern
I got your MAJOR AWARD right here, big boy. Leg Lamp Fantasy Selfie.
Jenny Lee Stern
We all know and have seen Broadway's biggest transformations: Beast into Prince. Princess into Ogre. But nothing compares to Random Leg Lamp Chorus girl magically morphing into Random Featured Ensemble Mom. I mean, how DO we do it???
Jenny Lee Stern
Mara to the Rescue! Our hottie patottie swing Mara Newbery steps in for the first time in Boston. Yippie Ka Yo!
Jenny Lee Stern
Tongue stuck to a pole? We gotcha. CSRS. Christmas Story Rescue Squad. Tuesdays on ABC. Starring Kevin Quillon, David Purdy, Lindsay O'Neil, Jenny Lee Stern and Thay Floyd.
Jenny Lee Stern
The Christmas Story 5K! A great morning in Boston!
Jenny Lee Stern
Keven Quillon, my daughter Pats and I celebrate our accomplishment. Well, Keven's accomplishment.
Jenny Lee Stern
...see, when I say I ran my first 5K... by "ran" I mean "walked." By "walked" I mean "walked halfway and went to brunch." I chalk this up to #winning nonetheless.
Jenny Lee Stern
Before we leave the Wang Theatre in Boston, we leave our mark. A tradition.
Jenny Lee Stern
Hey NEW YORK! We're back! Don't shoot your eye out!
Jenny Lee Stern
Security is super tight at MSG. Here I am getting my super sexy daily pat down.
Jenny Lee Stern
Follow the arrows...where would YOU like to go?
Jenny Lee Stern
The boys chillaxing in their crazy pimped out dressing room. I'd show you a picture of the girls in out room, but i couldn’t fit the three of us AND my iPhone in there at the same time.
Jenny Lee Stern
The Christmas Story Leg Lamp Workout. You've won a MAJOR AWARD. The major award of a super hot bod. (with Keven Quillon)
Jenny Lee Stern
The man who taught me everything I know. I am only where I am because of him. I schlep this mug from beauty station to beauty station to remind me of the glorious powerhouse talent of the one and only Craig Laurie. I only hope to be as genius as he.
Jenny Lee Stern
Working on some heavy scene work with Nicky. He said WHAAAAAT?
Jenny Lee Stern
It's hard to stop. We're just THAT committed.
Jenny Lee Stern
On stage sound checking at The Garden. Thats 5500 seats behind me! Almost FOUR Broadway houses combined! Like, whoa.
Jenny Lee Stern
Tap dancing maven, Luke Spring and the dashing and hilarious Noah Baird. The future of Broadway. I mean couldn't you just dip them in duck sauce and sing "Fa Ra Ra Ra Ra?"
Jenny Lee Stern
A lovely shot of my favorite hat in the show: The Elpha-beret. She's green. She defies gravity. Ya get it. Charissa Bertels is SUPER impressed.
Jenny Lee Stern
Sound Check Realness. My Crispi Seaweed Snack is at it again. Get ready, Broadway. You're about to be taken over. Is my obsession with this boy clear?
Jenny Lee Stern
#elfie is the new #selfie. Get into it. Thay Floyd, Keven Quillon, Lizzie Klemperer and I letting you have it.
Jenny Lee Stern
My father Marty Stern is a highly decorated Track/Field coach. Our first performance at MSG coincided with his 77th birthday! Especially emotional as he had coached several relay teams to WORLD RECORDS in this very arena! W/ my gorgeous mother Sharon!
Jenny Lee Stern
We're OPEN! And we're a hit! Welcomed back to NYC with the loving embrace of a standing ovation!
Jenny Lee Stern
Thanks for coming along for the ride Playbill.com! Happy Holidays from my family to yours! Patsy, Jeremy, Nora and I wish you Love & Many Blessings in 2014! #KeepingUpWithTheKushniers
Stern will make her Broadway debut this spring in Rocky.
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Original 2012 Broadway cast members Dan Lauria, John Bolton, Erin Dilly and Caroline O'Connor return for the engagement that will run through Dec. 29 at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden. The New York run follows stops at Hartford's Bushnell Theatre and the Wang Theatre in Boston. Lauria (Lombardi, "The Wonder Years") plays Jean Shepherd, with Bolton (Spamalot, Contact, Titanic) as The Old Man, Dilly (Nice Work If You Can Get It, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) as Mother and O'Connor (Gypsy, Chicago, "Moulin Rouge") as school teacher Miss Shields.
The cast also features Jake Lucas, who was previously seen on Broadway in Newsies, as Ralphie. Eli Tokash (Mary Poppins) plays Ralphie at certain performances. Noah Baird plays little brother Randy.
The Christmas Story ensemble includes Charlie Babbo, Gabriella Baldacchino, Hannah Isabel Bautista, Charissa Bertels, Tanya Birl, Beada Briglia, Judae’a Brown, Michael Crispi, Andrew Cristi, Mathew DeGuzman, Thay Floyd, Nick Gaswirth, Lizzie Klemperer, Jose Luaces, Mara Newbery, Alexa Niziak, Lindsay O’Neil, David Scott Purdy, Keven Ryan Quillon, Lucas Schultz, Mitchell Sink, Luke Spring, Jenny Lee Stern and Nicky Torchia.
Pete and Lily, the pooches from last season's production of A Christmas Story, return to cause a ruckus as the Bumpus Hounds.
The 2012 run of A Christmas Story, The Musical marked the Broadway debut of Richard Rodgers Award-winning Dogfight songwriters Pasek and Paul. Joseph Robinette authored the book. The score includes such songs as "Red Ryder," "Ralphie to the Rescue," "A Major Award" and "You'll Shoot Your Eye Out."
The musical earned three 2013 Tony Award nominations, including Best Score, Best Book and Best Musical.
The production reflects the work of the original creative team, including Tony-winning director John Rando (Urinetown) and Tony-nominated choreographer Warren Carlyle (Chaplin, Follies, An Evening With Hugh Jackman).
Critics warmed to the production that broke box-office records at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre last Christmas.
According to producers, "In 1940's Indiana, a bespectacled boy named Ralphie has a big imagination and one wish for Christmas—a Red Ryder BB Gun. A kooky leg lamp, outrageous pink bunny pajamas, a cranky department store Santa, and a triple-dog-dare to lick a freezing flagpole are just a few of the obstacles that stand between Ralphie and his Christmas dream. A Christmas Story, The Musical is holiday entertainment that captures a simpler time in America with delicious wit and a heart of gold."
The production has scenic design by Walt Spangler; costume design by Elizabeth Hope Clancy; lighting design by Tony Award winner Howell Binkley; sound design by Ken Travis; wig design by Tom Watson; orchestrations by 2011 Tony nominee Larry Blank; musical supervision by Ian Eisendrath; dance arrangements by Glen Kelly; and vocal arrangements by composer Justin Paul.
A Christmas Story, The Musical is produced by Gerald Goehring, Roy Miller, Michael F. Mitri, Pat Flicker Addiss, Peter Billingsley, Timothy Laczynski, Mariano Tolentino, Louise H. Beard, Michael Filerman, Scott Hart, Alison Eckert, Bob Bartner, Michael Jenkins, Angela Milonas and Bradford W. Smith.
