Photo Flash: First Look At The Sauk's A CHRISTMAS STORY

The cult classic Christmas film, A CHRISTMAS STORY, jumps to life in December on stage at The Sauk, Hillsdale County's community theatre for eight performances December 6-16.

Humorist Jean Shepherd's memoir of growing up in the Midwest in the 1940s 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 Higbee's Department Store. The consistent response: "You'll shoot your eye out!" All the elements from the beloved motion picture are here, including the family's temperamental exploding furnace; Scut Farkas, the school bully; the boys' experiment with a wet tongue on a cold lamppost; the Little Orphan Annie decoder pin; Ralphie's father winning a lamp shaped like a woman's leg in a net stocking; Ralphie's fantasy scenarios and more. A Sauk debut!

The young cast consists of Sauk newcomer Storm Tremblay as Ralphie, Cooper McCullough as Randy, Tyson Duff as Flick, Blake Ryan as Schwartz, Grace Dube as Esther Jane Alberry, Ellie Gray as Helen Weathers and Jeffery McCullough as Scut Farkas. The adult cast consists of Bruce Crews as Ralph, Ray Pratt as The Old Man, Meghan Barnes as Mother and Christina Dube as (Miss) Shields.

The production is being directed by Ron Boyle with stage management by Mari Nunez. The production team also includes Tracy McCullough (lighting design) and Deb Smith (properties design).

Performances are at 8 p.m. on December 6-8 and 13-15 and at 3 p.m. on December 9 and 16. All performances take place at the Sauk Theatre, 240 E. Chicago St. in Jonesville. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors (55 and up) and students (with a valid i.d.) and $8 for children (12 and under). Tickets can be purchased at www.thesauk.org or by calling 517-849-9100. The December 6 performance is a "Pay What You Can" preview. Preview tickets are not sold in advance. The December 13 performance is $5 senior night.