When it comes to Christmas plays, there's rarely much variety. Most of the time, Dickens' A Christmas Carol gets hauled out like the traditional recycled fruitcake.
So for those of us who can stomach only so much fruitcake, it was welcome news when Paragon Theatre announced a stage version of Jean Shepherd's A Christmas Story. Adapted by Philip Grecian, the play hews closely to the 1983 movie, which was, in turn, adapted from Shepherd's In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash, a fictionalized memoir of growing up in 1930s small-town Indiana.
As in the movie, voiceover narration is woven throughout this account of 9-year-old Ralphie Parker's efforts to persuade his parents to give him a Red Ryder Carbine-Action Range Model Air Rifle for Christmas.
The best parts of director Jordan Ross' production are the fantasy sequences in which Ralphie (Joshua Katinsky) imagines defending his family in the Wild West or handing in a school theme paper and receiving an "A" with so many pluses, the teacher runs out of room on the blackboard and has to write on the wall.
There are a few bits that didn't appear in the movie, including a mini-romantic subplot in which one of Ralphie's classmates (Rebecca Dziwulski) develops a crush on him. But for the most part, the play is a live-action movie.
We see Ralphie's friend Flick (Conner Batley) take a dare and get his tongue stuck on a flag pole. We see Ralphie forced to suck on a bar of bath soap after uttering a profanity. And we see Ralphie's Old Man (Roy Hammond), an inveterate contest entrant, revel in his first "major award" - a lamp in the shape of a woman's leg, complete with black fishnet stocking and fringed shade, all of which makes Ralphie's Mom (Cathy Ireland) cringe.
As this description of the lamp suggests, Paragon has done a nice job with many of the show's period details, right down to the kitchen appliances.
There were a few glitches on opening night, and the scene changes will probably never flow with cinematic grace. But the children in the cast handle their roles with obvious pleasure - even if Hammond's portrayal of the Old Man comes across as more juvenile than the youngest youngster on stage. Then again, this is the kind of show in which a degree of amateurishness is rather charming.
Shepherd professes to abjure nostalgia, but this play is loaded with it. If you think of the production as a homemade Christmas gift, fashioned with warmth and holiday spirit, you'll find yourself drifting back to a time when nothing was more important than the gifts Santa left under the tree.
Show times at Paragon Theatre, 9 W. 25th St., are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, through Dec. 22. Tickets are $15. For more information, call 410-467-1966.
Children's program
As part of Everyman Theatre's educational outreach program, pupils from the William H. Lemmel Middle School will give a free performance of work ranging from poetry to drumming at the theater, 1727 N. Charles St., at 11:30 a.m. Dec. 7. The theme of this year's program, chosen by the pupils, is respect for oneself and others.
Everyman's middle school program encourages pupils to create and perform original work while developing life skills in a safe environment. For more information, call 410-752-2208.
Baltimorean directs
Baltimore native James Stovall, an actor whose Broadway credits include Ragtime and The Life, is branching out. Nativity: A Life Story, a show he co-wrote with Hattie Winston and which he has also directed, will be presented in concert form with an all-star cast at New York's United Palace Theatre, 175th Street and Broadway, Dec. 6 and 7.
Inspired by Langston Hughes' Black Nativity, the show uses African-American music and dance to retell the Biblical story of Christmas from Mary's point of view. Stephanie Mills, BeBe Winans and Phylicia Rashad head the cast. Tickets are $25-$50. For more information, call 212-491-2206.