I’ve said it many times before but the musical adaptation of the classic film A Christmas Story is underrated. While it won’t win over those that aren’t fans of the movie I find the songs to be very catchy and it manages to include every major event from the movie quite seamlessly. The new production of this musical at St George Musical Theatre captures this charm and makes for an ideal start to this year’s holiday season in Southern Utah.

Of course, this musical tells the story of young Ralphie Parker who’s greatest dream is to get a Red Ryder carbine action BB gun for Christmas. The problem is all the adults in his life are convinced he’ll ‘shoot his eye out’ if he’s given the gun. Most of us can relate to Ralphie and the big gift you were hoping to have for the holidays or a birthday. Plus there are bullies, pranks, daydreams and more that children of any era can connect with.

The cast at SGMT is led by Jake Dyas as Ralphie and he’s up for all the choreography and singing demands of the role. I also really enjoyed John Tanner as Old Man and Rachel Rose as Mother (I loved her rendition of “What a Mother Does” which is an underrated song from the show.) Roy Eckman grounds the story as the narrator Jean Shepherd which helps bring the audience back after the sillier scenes. The production is directed by Adam Mast and he has brought out the best of his cast and used the projections on the side wall to add to the storytelling (it’s theatre in the round so sets are challenging.)

Speaking of sets I do wish they had stretched out the house setpieces over the entire stage using all the platforms. As it is all of the house sets are crammed into one corner of the stage which kind of defeats the purpose of an immersive theatre in the round. I realize the other side of the stage is used for the department store and schoolyard so it becomes challenging. Nevertheless, most of the action did feel crammed into one corner of the stage.

I also didn’t love the decision to gender swap a bunch of the child roles. Randy, Flick, and Schwartz aren’t just girls playing boy roles but they are referred to by feminine pronouns and are female characters. Some of the scenes hit differently for girls rather than boys particularly the bullying scene. In addition, when Ralphie gets the bunny outfit he says Schwartz and Flick would give him grief, a statement that makes less sense if both characters are girls. If they have more girls auditioning just have them play boys rather than gender swapping but that’s just me.

Even so, I had a great time watching A Christmas Story at SGMT. It’s funny, full of heart and will make a great addition to your holiday festivities this year.

A Christmas Story: The Musical has music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul with a book by Joseph Robinette based on the book by Jean Shepherd and the 1983 film.

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