Actor Jackson Duncan as Ralphie is shown in the stage version of “A Christmas Story” in Carmel.
Submitted photo
CARMEL — If you prefer your yuletide with yuks, there’s still time to catch the classic “A Christmas Story: The Musical” on stage through Saturday at Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre, 3 Carter Green in Carmel.
The show, which received rave reviews on its Broadway run, is based on the 1983 movie classic that runs nearly ‘round-the-clock on television every Christmas.
The film was based on Jean Shepherd’s semi-fictional anecdotes in his 1966 book “In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash,” with some elements from his 1971 book “Wanda Hickey’s Night of Golden Memories And Other Disasters.”
Set in the 1940s in the fictional town of Hohman, Indiana, purportedly inspired by Hammond, the musical follows 9-year-old Ralphie Parker and his quest for the Holy Grail of Christmas gifts — an Official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot Range Model air rifle. Rebuffed at every turn with a similar echoing response — “You’ll shoot your eye out!” — Ralphie plots numerous schemes to achieve his desperate desire for the coveted BB gun.
Jackson Duncan, a 13-year-old Zionsville Middle School seventh-grader, plays the lead role, and looks strikingly like movie actor Peter Billingsley. A DVD commentary on the film mentions that Jack Nicholson was briefly considered for the role of the old man.
Showtimes for the two-and-a-half-hour production are 7 p.m. today and Friday and at noon on Saturday, according to the show website. Tickets still remained at press time.
Information: civictheatre.org
