Christmas in Sacramento has come early this year with the arrival of A Christmas Story: The Musical, Broadway Sacramento’s 2019-2020 debut at the historic Memorial Auditorium. As one of America’s most beloved holiday stories, A Christmas Story takes the audience on a nostalgic journey to small-town life in the Midwest in 1940 with our favorite characters – 10-year-old Ralphie Parker, played by Tommy Druhan (Billy Elliott, James and the Giant Peach) and Ian Shaw (Peter Pan, Oliver), brother Randy (William Colin), the overprotective, yet loving Mother (Briana Gantsweg of Kinky Boots, Austen’s Pride), and his father The Old Man played by Christopher Swan (My Fair Lady, It’s a Wonderful Life).

A Christmas Story: The Musical follows the movie script we all know and love, with some added singing and dancing along the way. Musical highlights include “It All Comes Down to Christmas” in scene one set at the Parker family home and Higbee’s Department Store; my personal favorite – “Ralphie to the Rescue!” – a toe-tapping, gun-slinging song that brings to life every boy’s dream of becoming a cowboy; and a “Sticky Situation” about – you got it – the infamous tongue-stuck-to-the-flagpole scene.

The producers really hit this production out of the ballpark with this one – the set design was spectacular (falling snow, the Parker family home, and the “moving” scenery as the Parkers drove in the family car). The cast was spectacular as well – the very talented Chris Carsten (Legally Blonde, My Fair Lady), as Jean Shepard does a phenomenal job at narrating the story, really bringing the excitement of a little boy’s dream during the Christmas season, to life.

If you’re ready to get into the holiday spirit, this is a must-see production this Broadway Sacramento season. And what better venue to travel back in time to simpler days than at our own Memorial Auditorium, recently updated to accommodate the Broadway Sacramento series productions while the Sacramento Community Center Theater is being fully renovated.

A Christmas Story: The Musical is playing now through Sunday, Nov. 17 at Sacramento’s Memorial Auditorium. For more information about the show, click here. To purchase tickets, click here.

This review was written by Visit Sacramento’s Business Intelligence & Convention Marketing Coordinator Alyssa S. Green.