Everything works in Wheaton Drama's 'A Christmas Story'

November 29, 2007

By Randall G. Mielke SPECIAL TO THE BEACON NEWS

Happiness is finding the perfect present under the tree on Christmas morning. For theatergoers who are looking for charming nostalgia and some holiday cheer, the Wheaton Drama presentation of A Christmas Story is that perfect present. The show is being offered at Wheaton Drama through Dec. 16.

A Christmas Story, by Philip Grecian, is based on the 1983 movie of the same name written by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown and Bob Clark. That movie was based on Shepherd's book In God We Trust All Others Pay Cash, first published in 1966.

A Christmas Story is Shepherd's memoir of growing up in the Midwest in the 1940s. The story follows 9-year-old Ralphie Parker in his quest to get a genuine Red Ryder BB gun under the tree for Christmas. Ralphie pleads his case before his mother, his teacher and even Santa Claus himself, at Goldblatt's (in this verson) Department Store. But he faces the consistent response: "You'll shoot your eye out." The play captures all the essence of the film with such elements as the family's temperamental exploding furnace, the boys' experiment with a wet tongue on a cold lamppost, the Little Orphan Annie decoder pin and Ralphie's father winning a lamp shaped like a woman's leg in a net stocking.

According to the program for the show, A Christmas Story is Jack T. Smith's first directorial experience with Wheaton Drama. Credit Smith first with assembling a top-notch cast. The entire ensemble performs beautifully. Dean A. Dranias, as the older Ralph, narrates the show and moves seamlessly in and out of the scenes. He is blessed with having to deliver most of Shepherd's great one-liners. Grant Mitchell, as 9-year-old Ralphie, is delightful, and Bill Barry, Jr., as his father, is very funny. Dranias and Mitchell work especially well together as the older Ralph narrates the scenes in which the younger Ralphie is acting.

Part of the fun in this show is Ralphie's imagination sequences in which he conjures up various scenarios of how he will save family and friends from treacherous situations with the help of his Red Ryder BB gun or how the theme he has written for a school assignment will change the world. These scenes are exaggerated and give the actors a chance to play their characters more elaborately. In one imagination scene, Ralphie's teacher, Miss Shields (played by Amy Vandenberg) is reading over his theme paper while donning a flowery/feathery hat and marking the paper with a large, oversized pencil. The scene gave Vandenberg a chance to show her comedic talents.

Director Smith deserves credit for making these scenes work so effectively. The actors could have played the scenes too broadly, but Smith kept the scenes based in reality. They were some of the best moments in the show.

Another aspect of the play that was presented effectively was the running gags. The Red Ryder BB gun sales pitch, the admonishment "You'll shoot your eye out" and the fact that Ralphie's family ate only meat loaf and red cabbage for dinner are handled well. The lines are funny each and every time because each time the line is spoken it is accented by a different movement, hand gesture or facial expression.

Smith, the cast and the sound crew (headed by Sound Designer Ken Callaway) also kept a scene in the second act fresh. Ralphie's father (Bill Barry, Jr.) has won a lamp shaped like a woman's leg that he wants to prominently display in the living room window. Ralphie's mom (played by Susan Carr) is less-than-enthused about the "trophy." In a creative and highly entertaining scene, Barry and Carr move through different parts of the set while turning the light on and off. It was partially done to the music of The Nutcracker and the whole scene took on a ballet-like enchantment. It was very effective.

Director Jack Smith has done a wonderful job of creating a congenial and heart-warming show.