A CHRISTMAS STORY Musical to Get New Composer for Seattle Run
By: Lauren Wolman
A CHRISTMAS STORY: THE MUSICAL!, which premiered at the Kansas City Repertory Theatre in 2009, will next play Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre from November 30 - December 19, 2010, with a new composer BroadwayWorld has learned.
A CHRISTMAS STORY: THE MUSICAL! played as a pre-Broadway engagement and enjoying an extended run in Kansas City. But before taking to the stage again, the creative team will undergo changes. Scott Davenport Richards, composer and lyricist of the Kansas City production, not continue with the show, BroadwayWorld has learned from Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre directly. According to a rep for the theater, the productions song's had "always been a matter of some concern." Producers are currently in negotiations with a new composer, who is expected to be announced sometime next month. The book will remain in tact and director Eric Rosen and choreographer Kelly Devine will continue with the production. The production will also go on as scheduled this upcoming winter.The Kansas City production had been billed as a pre-Broadway engagement, with a goal of coming into New York in 2010. The producers elected to continue developing the production at the 5th Avenue Theatre this year instead.
Inspired by the classic 1983 movie and the stories of popular radio humorist Jean Shepard, A CHRISTMAS STORY: THE MUSCAL! features a libretto by Joseph Robinette and is a throwback to the 1940's and follows the adventures of young Ralphie Parker and his desperate quest to receive the most desirable and forbidden of all Christmas presents - "An Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action 200-shot Range Model Air Rifle". All of films most memorable moments (You'll shoot your eye out, kid!) and indelible characters will be onboard including "The Old Man", Ralphie's irascible father fighting with the furnace, and reveling in his prize leg lamp. The world-premiere production of the show was produced by Grammy nominee Gerald Goehring and Michael F. Mitri. The duo also produced the Off-Broadway production of YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN. Robert G. Bartner and Michael A. Jenkins (GUYS AND DOLLS, BOEING-BOEING) also produce.
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