By Robert Simonson
17 Dec 2009

	Jeff Talbott (Ralph) and Jonathan A. Savage (Ralphie) in St. Louis Rep's A Christmas Story.
	photo by Jerry Naunheim, Jr.

Woolf became aware of the play last season when St. Louis Rep did a co-production of Frost/Nixon with Geva Theatre in Rochester, NY. When the Rep took their production up to Geva, the New York theatre was doing A Christmas Story. "They kept telling me how it was a big box office hit, and I thought, 'I need to pay attention to this.' I flew up to see it. And it was almost more like watching the audience than watching the show."

St. Louis Rep doesn't regularly do a holiday show, and hasn't done A Christmas Carol since the early 1980s. But there was apparently a hunger for something in the spirit of the season. The four-week run is nearly sold out (and a performance has been added on Dec. 20). "We're wrapping 5 to 7,000 dollars a day at the box office. That's huge for us," said Woolf. The Pioneer Theatre production is also effectively sold out, and a Friday matinee on Dec. 18 was added. "The audience really responds to it," said Lino.

This comes as no surprise to Seth Gordon of Cleveland Play House. The first time he did A Christmas Story, it was the highest selling show in theatre's history. And the day the review came out, it was the highest selling day in the theatre's history. "We were surprised to the degree to which is was a success," said Gordon. "You never predict something's going to be the biggest box office hit in your theatre's history, especially when you were founded in 1915."

The Grecian script follows the movie fairly closely, using an adult Ralphie as a narrator and framing device. The production of A Christmas Story now breaking records at Kansas City Rep also uses an older Ralphie as a narrator. But other than that, it's a completely different animal. It's a new musical version of the film, and the Rep is producing its world premiere. Scott Davenport Richards penned the score to the show and the libretto is by Joseph Robinette. KC Rep artistic director Eric Rosen stages the production, which has hopes to reach an audience well beyond Kansas City. Soon, the smelly hounds of Ralphie's neighbors, the hillbilly-like Bumpuses, may be chewing up holiday turkeys on Broadway.

When it was announced last spring that Kansas City Rep would be doing A Christmas Story instead of A Christmas Carol — which it had for the last 27 years — the news hit the front page of the Kansas City Star. Some were upset, but others were excited. Tickets went on sale in October. "We more than tripled box office from the previous year," said Rosen. "It's the best selling show in our history."

The musical form allows the creators to tell a familiar story in new ways. For instance, Flick not only sings a song about getting his tongue frozen to the flagpole, he sings all three verses while his taster is still stuck to the metal. And the audience is treated to a kickline of dancing leg lamps, Busby Berkeley-style.

"It's not the what of the story that matters, it's the how of the story, how it's told," said Rosen. "I think there's something very pleasurable about seeing this film turned into a musical, so that the musical style can take over. We all know what's going to come, but we twist it into something new." Rosen and his collaborators are currently exploring various trajectories for the project, which recently extended a week to Jan. 3. "I think we'll know in January what our future is."

The Pioneer, not wanting to repeat itself, will not present the play version next year. St. Louis Rep, meanwhile, is looking at its options. "There's some people who say you should start repeating," said Woolf. "I don't know. Do you repeat, do you give it a year off? We've never quite had a show roar at us so fast."