…in other words, the perfect holiday season production

By Audrey Liebross

Desert Theatreworks’ (DTW’s) Christmas show this year, the non-musical version of A Christmas Story, based on the 1983 movie of the same name, is an adorable, feel-good, and well-directed and performed production that is corny as it’s possible to be — in other words, the perfect holiday season production.

Philip Grecian’s adaptation of the Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown, Bob Clark screenplay of the same name is sweet, with a few salty moments courtesy of the “Old Man,” which is how protagonist Ralphie Parker (Trevor Rabe) refers to his growly father (James Flaherty). The script mostly follows the movie, except that the film’s numerous scene locations have been cut down, and some of the scenes in the movie that the kids act out are supplemented or replaced with reminiscences by a narrator (Willie Eide), who is actually the play’s main character.

The action takes place in a small town in Indiana, either in the 1930’s or 1940’s. (The script itself, which I read, mentions both dates). The question about the decade provides a major clue that this is an escapist story — there is no sign that there is either a depression or a war going on, or that a war has recently ended. No one dies, and the vicious dogs next door do almost no damage to the Old Man (the only person they dislike), although they eat his shoe and later, something more important to the story. While the narrator (Ralphie as a middle-aged man, now going by “Ralph”) stands in the middle of the action, watching the long-ago events, this is not a play about bittersweet memories of departed love ones, such as Our Town or even It’s a Wonderful Life; this play, despite its sweetness, is very much a comedy, albeit one suffused with nostalgia.

Director Michael Pacas (who also designed the sound), has obtained fine performances from of all his actors. DTW operates KidsWorks, a program of classes and camps for juvenile performers. The seven kids who appear in the show participate in KidsWorks, which has trained them well — these kids are all fine actors, who give the adults quite a bit to measure up to. The young performers are Trevor Rabe (Ralphie), Kensei Foster (Randy), Gideon Rodriguez (Flick), Isaac Urrutia (Schwartz), Jaizalynn Pennington (Esther Jane Alberry), Marguerite Long (Helen Weathers), and Landen Sterling (Scut Farkas).

Fortunately, all five adults do, indeed, measure up to the talented kids. Three are DTW newcomers: Renee Bourgeau, who plays the teacher and several miscellaneous roles, makes an excellent ditz, which is what her multiple characters call for. James Flaherty, making his DTW debut as the Old Man, aces the role, in the process drawing what is, in my opinion, a welcome distinction to the late Darrin McGavin’s film interpretation. While James also growls hilariously and peppers the air with strange invective — one of my sons calls his type of made-up swear words “cartoon cussin’” — he has a great deal of depth in his performance, for example, utilizing a variety of facial expressions to convey that the Old Man is far more than a cartoon. At the end of the play, when he sits with his wife on the sofa, he demonstrates through his fond glances and posture that he adores her, even though he often drives her crazy. There is another aspect to James: He is significantly younger than Darren McGavin, who was 60 years old when he played the role. By taking away the large age difference between the spouses, this production removes a potentially sinister explanation for the Old Man’s movie behavior towards his much younger wife, namely that he views her as a trophy wife.

Willie Eide, a snowbird from Montana, plays the lead role, the middle-aged Ralph, who narrates the story. Willie is also a newcomer to DTW, appearing in his second DTW production. He plays middle-aged Ralph as a warm individual who thoroughly enjoys his time-traveling reminiscences — no tears in his eyes, when he sees his old home, or his parents. This is EXACTLY what I want from a feel-good show this year; I get all the tears I can handle just by watching the news. I thoroughly enjoyed Willie’s interpretation and performance. Come on, Man, stop the shuttling back and forth and relocate here, permanently — your acting greatly enriches the Coachella Valley.

DTW veteran Daniela Ryan, as the mother, also interprets her role expertly. Other than washing Ralphie’s mouth out with soap when he lets loose with an expletive (which he doesn’t actually say on stage), Daniela’s Mrs. Parker could be a 21st century enlightened soul. She ignores her husband’s meshugas more than many modern women might, but it is clear that she is nobody’s pushover — especially not her husband’s. And she dreams up an imaginative way to get her younger son (Kensei Foster), who appears to have an eating disorder, to ingest food; she allows him to pretend he is a pig and put his mouth on the plate to eat his food as a pig would. She also behaves sympathetically to Ralphie when he finally ends Scut Farkas’s (Landen Sterling) bullying by pounding Farkas into the ground. I suspect that Mrs. Parker’s outside the box approach toward her children would have horrified etiquette expert Emily Post, who was still active during Mrs. Parker’s era, but it makes Mrs. Parker a loving mother whom I thoroughly enjoyed watching in action. Director Pacas has added a few interesting moves for Mrs. Parker that do not appear in the movie. I won’t give anything away, but do pay special attention to Daniela’s ongoing reactions to the leg lamp.

The last adult cast member, Ron Young, another DTW veteran, plays numerous small roles, including a very unsuitable Santa Claus. He, too, is very funny. Ron’s Santa Claus is absolutely hilarious, albeit, ahem, nontraditional.

One way to bring the audience into a period story, when there was no Internet, no television, no pants in public for women, and DEFINITELY no racial or gender equality, is to emphasize the things that we, the 21st century audience would recognize, even though they might look different from the way those things look today. Lance Phillips’ costumes (Lance is DTW’s artistic director) perfectly capture the era, while still allowing the audience to recognize, if not ourselves, at least our parents’ old photographs. Which of us who grew up in snowy areas does not recognize little brother Randy’s difficulties in maneuvering in his snow suit, to the point where he can’t lower his arms or stand up after he has fallen? The costuming, in my opinion, deserves kudos. Similarly, Tess Phillips’ hair and makeup also help evoke the era — especially Daniela Ryan’s hair.

On the other hand, I am a bit ambivalent about Ron Phillips’ set. (Ron is DTW’s Chief Executive Officer. If you notice several folks named Phillips among the creatives, that is because DTW is indeed a family endeavor). While the set decoration evokes a comfortable home during the time period, and makes clear the family’s socioeconomic status, I’m not sure how I feel about the choice to label the doors leading to various places, such as as the front door and the basement, without having them decorated — especially because the actors often use the doors for other than their labeled purposes. The kitchen table, Ralphie’s room, and the sofa are fully set out, all of which were key parts of his existence that he would be likely to remember correctly, while the stove and the rest of the kitchen — the part occupied only by Mrs. Parker — are not. This is a clever way to differentiate Ralph’s strong memories from the ones that are likely to be more fuzzy, but I still found the labeled doors annoying. The other part of the set decoration that some might greatly appreciate, but I did not, was the decision to use the platform at the end of the kitchen as the classroom. I would rather have seen the actors carry chairs out and sit on those, to better divide the classroom from the home. I emphasize that all of these are designer choices. The set is high-quality and it is only my personal preferences that cause me to be less than enthusiastic.

Finally, I want to issue a shout-out to the lighting designer (Nick Wass) and the sound designer (director Michael Pacas) for the beautiful lighting and the highly enjoyable musical interludes that accompanied the otherwise silent stage actions. It will definitely feel like Christmas to the audience when all the lights, including the ones on the tree, are lit at once.

I definitely recommend this production for people who want a feel good, laugh out loud Christmas comedy. Shakespeare it most definitely is not, but the show is well-acted, well-directed, and technically well-done. Grinches won’t like this corny tale, but people looking for a fun, family-friendly experience and Christmas nostalgia sure will!

A Christmas Story will run through Thursday, December 21, 2023, on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, at 7:30 p.m.; on Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. (i.e., there are two shows on Saturdays); and on Tuesday, December 19, 2023 and Wednesday, December 20, 2023, at 7:30 p.m. Check the ticket purchase information at www.dtworks.org for prices or call (760) 980-1455. All performances take place at the Indio Performing Arts Center, 45175 Fargo Street, Indio, CA 92201. In partnership with C4 Communication, DTW will have ASL Interpreters at the Saturday, December 16th 7:30 p.m. performance.

 Photos by: Tara Howard Photography

The rest of the 2023-24 season consists of:

Christmas With The Crawfords (November 17th - December 30th) puts the “fun” back in dysfunctional, in a must-see, R-rated holiday extravaganza. The venue for CHRISTMAS WITH THE CRAWFORDS is the Margaritaville Resort, 1600 N Indian Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs.

Gilligan's Island - The Musical (Jan. 5-28, 2024) “Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale…” America’s most iconic sit-com from the 1960’s comes to the stage reincarnated as a fun family musical. Written by the original TV show’s creator, Sherwood Schwartz, all the show’s beloved characters seem to have leaped straight from the TV screen to the big stage, bringing their hilarious adventures along with them. Will they finally make it off the island?

Neil Simon's Plaza Suite (Feb. 2-25, 2024) You simply cannot miss the DTW annual production by legendary playwright and four-time Tony winner Neil Simon. Two actors play three different couples in one famous hotel room and the comedy ensues…

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (March 1-24, 2024) For six years, BEAUTIFUL, the Tony and Grammy Award-winning Carole King musical, thrilled Broadway audiences with the inspiring true story of Carol King’s remarkable journey from teenage songwriter to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Featuring over two dozen pop classics, including “You’ve Got a Friend,” “One Fine Day,” “Up on the Roof,” “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” and Natural Woman,” this international phenomenon is filled with the songs you remember.

Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird (April 12-28, 2024) Adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee, the play tells the well-known story from the book and motion picture