A Christmas Story

Ralphie Parker is a nine-year-old obsessed with getting a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas, even though every adult in his life, from his mother to a department store Santa, warns him he will shoot his eye out. As the holiday approaches, Ralphie navigates schoolyard bullies, a wildly competitive father devoted to a garish lamp he wins as a contest prize, and a series of small humiliations and triumphs typical of childhood in his Depression-era Indiana neighborhood. Told through the eyes of an adult Ralphie narrating his own memories, the show follows his family through the weeks leading up to Christmas as his hope for the one gift he truly wants keeps getting deferred.

A Christmas Story: The Musical has music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and a book by Joseph Robinette, based on the 1983 film and Jean Shepherd's original stories. It premiered in 2009 before a Broadway run in 2012, and has become a popular seasonal favorite for theaters staging holiday programming.

The score, an early work from the Tony and Oscar-winning team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, gives Ralphie's family big, tuneful numbers built around specific memories from the film, like his father's prized lamp and a department store Santa's line. Expect broad physical comedy alongside warm, old-fashioned holiday sentiment. The tone stays light and nostalgic even during Ralphie's setbacks. It suits families looking for a holiday show, especially those who love the film, and anyone nostalgic for a mid-century American Christmas.