They double-dog dare you to see this 'Christmas Story'

Local boys take to stage like Flick to a flagpole

November 30, 2007

By RON PAZOLA Staff writer

When Jack Dentinger was 7, he was almost an extra in the movie "Surviving Christmas" with Ben Affleck and Christina Applegate. His big-screen debut was thwarted when scenes that were to have been shot in Glen Ellyn were switched to another location.

But luck soon smiled on Jack. His name was kept on file and he received a phone call asking him if he would like to try out for a role in the movie "Flags of Our Fathers," directed by Clint Eastwood.

Jack auditioned and landed a small part as a paperboy. "After the scene was shot in Blue Island, Clint Eastwood came up to me, put his hand on my shoulder and said: 'What I needed today was greatness, and you gave me greatness,'" recalled Jack, now a sixth-grader at Hadley Junior High School in Glen Ellyn. "His words inspired me, and I knew I wanted to be an actor."

Jack went on to perform in some school productions and last year played a Munchkin in "The Wizard of Oz" at Wheaton Drama.

This year he has a meatier role as Flick in Wheaton Drama's rendition of "A Christmas Story," based on a 1983 movie of the same name. The play continues through Dec. 16.

"Jack is really serious about his acting," said his mother, Patty. "He's a relatively shy kid, but he livens up onstage."

The play takes place in 1945 and centers around 9-year-old Ralphie Parker, who for Christmas wants nothing more than a Red Ryder BB gun. In his quest for the gun, he finds himself in all kinds of adventures and dilemmas with his best friend, Flick.

All the elements from the movie are in the play, including the family's temperamental exploding furnace; Flick's tongue getting stuck on a cold flagpole; Ralphie's father winning a lamp shaped like a woman's leg in a fishnet stocking and the torments of school bully Scut Farkas.

Ironically, the bully is played by a friend and classmate of Jack's, Will Crawford.

"It's fun," Will said. "I spend a lot of time in the play chasing people and doing damage to them."

But Will's mother, Therese Crawford of Glen Ellyn, talks about her son as only a mother can. "Will is nothing like the character he plays," she said. "In real life he is very sensitive to people's needs."

Jack said he's happy he didn't get the lead role of Ralphie. "I find the role of Flick more exciting," he said. "Flick actually has more lines than Ralphie."

Jack described his character as "a nice guy who is always getting into trouble."

"I like the interpretation that Jack brings to the character of Flick," said Jack Smith, director of "A Christmas Story." "And Will is perfect for the role of the bully. He's a little bigger than most kids his age, and he is quite convincing as the bully."

Smith described the play as timeless and filled with reminiscences about childhood Christmases.

"'A Christmas Story' is fun, family entertainment that has poignant moments and very funny moments," Smith said. "It's a play that everyone can relate to."