Review: A CHRISTMAS STORY: THE MUSICAL at Arizona Broadway Theatre

Guest contributor David Appleford offers a heartwarming celebratory review of Arizona Broadway Theatre’s production of A CHRISTMAS STORY: THE MUSICAL.

Now lighting up the Arizona Broadway Theatre stage in Peoria through December 28 is a big-hearted, crowd-pleasing production that wraps nostalgia, comedy, and a festive score into one joyful package: A CHRISTMAS STORY: THE MUSICAL. The story centers, as ever, on young Ralphie’s singular laser-like focused holiday obsession: a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle “with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time.” That wish powers the story like Christmas Eve adrenaline.

Before A CHRISTMAS STORY hit movie screens in 1983, Hollywood didn’t exactly have a booming Christmas film industry. The holidays weren’t yet the cinematic season they are today. Even A CHRISTMAS STORY itself was released before Thanksgiving, then vanished from theaters by the time Christmas fully began.

That now-beloved 1983 film brought Jean Shepherd’s anecdotal episodes to life, but the musical adaptation adds a twist: the older Shepherd himself, played with genial warmth by Andy Meyers, once again reprising the role he played in the 2016 ABT production, strolls in and out of the scenes like a kindhearted Christmas ghost, narrating the tale originating from his Manhattan radio studio at WOR.  It’s a lovely touch that adds layers of sentiment and sparkle to this staged holiday memory.

What makes the show sing isn’t just the catchy numbers or clever staging, it’s the emotional truth behind it. Let’s not kid ourselves, this isn’t Christmas as it actually was, but Christmas as we want to remember it. Shepherd captured that dreamy, soft-focus nostalgia perfectly, and this production leans into it with affection and theatrical flair.

Everything you loved from the film is lovingly preserved. Ralphie (played in alternating performances by either Jackson Beeson or AJ Riddle) is still determined. Dad, known simply as The Old Man (Rob Watson) still battles the neighbor’s hounds and grumbles in foul-mouthed gibberish, and Mother (Jill Tieskoetter) still can’t eat a hot meal without having to get up at least five times to serve the family something extra at the table. It’s comfort food in theatrical form.

Both director Kiel Klaphake and choreographer Kurtis Overby keeps the pace snappy, moving briskly from one memorable vignette to the next, each exploding into a whimsical production number, written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the team who wrote the scores for Dear Even Hansen and the Hugh Jackman film, The Greatest Showman. Ralphie’s daydreams burst to life in Broadway-sized spectacles, one after another, from the action-packed fantasy Ralphie to the Rescue, to the hilariously garish A Major Award, and the tap-happy showstopper You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out, featuring schoolteacher Miss Shields (Sarah Ann Cleeland) vamping it up in a knockout red dress.

But it’s the opening number, It All Comes Down to Christmas, that truly sets the tone. The whole cast gathers in front of the grand Higbee’s department store window, counting down the days and capturing the gleeful buzz of a town, and a certain young boy, impatiently waiting for the big day.

Jill Tieskoetter brings tender depth to Mother with two standout ballads: What a Mother Does, a sweet ode to quiet, daily sacrifices, and Just Like That, a gentle reflection on how quickly childhood slips away. Both songs give the show emotional grounding amid the fun.

And while some missed mic cues spoiled the flow from time to time, visually, the production is a feast. Lorraine Barker’s period-perfect costumes, Chris Zizzo’s spot-on wigs and makeup, and Clifton Chadick’s richly detailed, ever moving sets brought to life by Heather Reynolds’ glowing lighting, plus the back screen digital projections of gentle falling snow over the streets of small town Indiana, makes everything feel like vintage postcards come to life. Music director Mark 4Man and his 5-piece live band ensures everything sounds just as lush as it looks.

The real magic, though, lies in the full ensemble, especially the kids, who dance, sing, and scamper across the stage with infectious joy. Watson and Tieskoetter as Ralphie’s parents nail that elusive blend of comedy and warmth without ever tipping into treacle. There’s a lived-in coziness to this family that resonates with anyone who’s ever survived a chaotic, love-filled holiday season. And yet, for all its glitz and grin-inducing numbers, what truly elevates A CHRISTMAS STORY: THE MUSICAL is that aching, sweet, slightly exaggerated longing for Christmases gone by, even if they never quite happened the way we remember them.

The show nails that mood in its final moments. As the snow settles and Christmas night winds down with the kids already in bed, Mother and the Old Man sit quietly in their living room while the soft glow of red, green, and blue Christmas lights hang above. Broadcasting from his radio studio the narrator reflects: “You never asked yourself if your parents loved you. It never crossed your mind. Their job was to raise you. Your job was to let them.”

So, as Thanksgiving gives way to December, so too will this show eventually finish its run. But before it closes on December 28th, make sure you take the kids. They may not know what it felt like to grow up in the '40s, or to ever have set foot in a department store like Higbee’s, but years from now, they might just remember the time Mom and Dad took them to ABT in Peoria for dinner and a show to see Ralphie.

After all, it’s your job to take them. It’s theirs to let you.

Arizona Broadway Theatre -- https://www.azbroadway.org/ -- 7701 W. Paradise Lane, Peoria, AZ -- 623-776-8400

Graphic credit to ABT

Phoenix Awards - Live Stats

Best Musical - Top 3

1. TOOTSIE (Arizona Broadway Theatre)

23.5% of votes

2. ANASTASIA: THE MUSICAL (Don Bluth Front Row Theatre)

8.8% of votes

3. WE ARE THE TIGERS (Velvet Curtain Productions)

7.1% of votes

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