Billy Elliot the Forum

A Christmas Story is on tour now for 2016. Three of us saw the 2nd show of the tour at the beautiful Stanley Theater in Utica, where it has been teching for the past 2 weeks. The show was fantastic. It has a great cast that does a nice job with the big production songs.

There is only 1 BE connection. Four weeks ago we saw BE at the Ocean State Theater in Warwick, RI. Christopher Swan played a phenomenal Jackie Elliot. So the next show we see is this version of A Christmas Story and there is Swan again playing the dad, Ralphie's father, aka "the old man". This is a starring role and it is the 3rd year in a row he has done it. We saw Christopher at the stage door and congratulated him on both fatherly roles. He was very surprised that people showed up in Utica that had seen him in BE in Rhode Island less than a month ago.

The tour only goes until the end of December and it stays in the East. It comes highly recommended. Our local Utica paper gave it a rave review.

This large theater was nearly 100% full.

This was the 3rd show since August to tech in Utica before setting out on their tour. Kinky Boots and Fame the Musical were the other 2.

If anyone else felt rather unsatisfied with A Christmas Story Live! as I did, there still are some opportunities to catch the tour which I found considerably more enjoyable. Most notably, the talented kid dancers don't have to deal with unreliable footing and can actually show off their ability to be light on their feet. Secondly, the Narrator will not have a face of stone and will actually express emotion while acting his part. It will be a slight negative not having the delightful Ana Gasteyer's Chanukah song, but it's a small price to pay.

Happy to say, I couldn't disagree with you more. I felt Matthew Broderick did a masterful job of grounding the production, and lulled me into complete trust so much that I completely forgot I was watching a live television event. I have to believe his soothing voice helped his fellow actors, too. Could he have added more inflection? Yes. But overall, his delivery was exactly what the story needed for this medium. I get so nervous watching live TV events, so I want to at least register my glowing opinions on behalf of those of us who share that kind of irrational fear (especially when you know I love live in-person theatrical shows). Kudos to the cast and crew involved. Very few flubs or issues. And super kudos to the kid who played Ralphie. His acting and delivery were perfect.

Sean

I'm with Sean on this. I thought the calm presence and wry tone of the narrator as performed by Matthew Broderick were spot on. For me, he represented "experience" in contrast to Ralphie's "innocence." And, unlike several reviews I read where the reviewer wanted a voice-over instead of a real (though unnoticed) narrator, I felt the device was completely appropriate for a theatrical piece instead of a movie. The objection reminded me of the critics who were upset with the change to the ending of "Billy Elliot" when it moved from the film to the stage.

I just watched this promotional clip of "Ralphie To The Rescue". Despite the singing about "a boy and his gun...", he isn't actually carrying his Red Ryder in the scene, unlike in the Broadway production. Was it like this for the whole live broadcast?

He only gets the gun on Christmas after being led to believe he isn't going to get it.

However, there is a fantasy scene at the department store, where he steps through the window into the display that features the gun.