A Christmas Story, with Gurner, Talbott, Savage and Young, to Play St. Louis Rep

By Adam Hetrick
November 25, 2009

The St. Louis Repertory Theatre will ring in the holidays with the stage adaptation of A Christmas Story, which begins performances Dec. 2 on the main stage of the Loretto Hilton Center.

Jeff Talbott (Broadway's Sly Fox, St Louis Rep's Frost/Nixon, Twelve Angry Men) will recall the frenzied anticipation of a childhood Christmas as the older Ralph, with young actor Jonathan A. Savage bringing the action to life as Ralphie. John McCluggage directs Philip Grecian’s adaptation, which will run through Dec. 20.

The cast of A Christmas Story also features Marnye Young (Mother), Jeff Gurner (The Old Man), Caden Self (Randy), Susie Wall (Miss Shields), Taylor Edlin (Flick), Jarrett Harkless (Schwartz), Julia Schweizer (Esther Jane), Sarah Koo (Helen) and Drew Redington (Scot Farkas).

The production will have design by Robert Mark Morgan (scenic designer), Dorothy Marshall Englis (costume designer), Lap Chichu (lighting designer) and Rusty Wandall (sound designer).

Philip Grecian adapted the 1983 MGM film penned by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown and Bob Clark. Press notes read: “It’s just a few weeks before Christmas, 1938, and little Ralphie Parker wants to find only one thing under the tree come December 25: an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle. Actually, to say he wants it is a great understatement. Ralphie is consumed with desire for it and mounts a campaign soliciting his parents, his teacher, even old Santa Claus himself to ensure it’s delivered,” press notes state.

The St. Louis Rep production is one of 13 professional productions of A Christmas Story being performed across the U.S. this holiday season. A new market has grown for fresh holiday fare that still captures the nostalgia and warmth of the season. Theatres are trading in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol for productions of White Christmas, The Black Nativity, A Christmas Story and Pulitzer Prize winner Paula Vogel’s A Civil War Christmas. A new Broadway-aimed musical adaptation of A Christmas Story is currently playing its world-premiere engagement at the Kansas City Repertory Theatre.

For tickets phone (314) 968-4925 or visit The Rep's online box office at RepStl. The Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts is located at 130 Edgar Road in Webster Groves, MO.