Local Review: The El Paso Playhouse's Production of "A Christmas Story"
I think that any form of holiday entertainment sets out to do two different things: Evoke nostalgia and spread holiday cheer. Without those two things, a holiday movie, special, or stage show will not succeed. Luckily, the El Paso Playhouse's production of the Christmas classic, A Christmas Story, hits all of the right marks. Given the Playhouse's previous success with a lot of the other shows I have seen there, I knew I would be in for a treat going into this production and it absolutely delivered. This is one of those shows that just simply made my heart happy and I had such a glorious evening watching this show.
Since A Christmas Story is such an iconic movie, I am not going to waste time describing the plot. Here is the Wikipedia page if for whatever inexcusable reason, you haven't seen it.
The El Paso Playhouse production of A Christmas Story did a very nice job of capturing the spirit of the original film and that is a huge part of what made this production so enjoyable and memorable. Although we have all seen the scenes from this movie about a thousand times, I found myself laughing hysterically. I wasn't laughing as if each moment were new, but because the cast did such a great job delivering these moments and everything about these moments just felt so right. With such familiar material, it can be hard to deliver it without it feeling stale, but this production made the entire show feel fresh, yet very nostalgic and familiar at the same time.
Overseeing the entire show was the older version of the protagonist, Ralphie, who was played by Travis Bevis. Anybody who attends this production MUST give Bevis mad props because he is onstage for the entire show and has so many lines and lots of blocking. Bevis did a superb job narrating the show and occasionally becoming different characters in the world of the plot. As his younger counterpart, Joaquin Porras was very bright and hard not to love. Each member of the cast did very well playing off one another, but Porras and Bevis especially. It also helped that at certain angles, they looked alike.
The parents were played by Minden Dickson (Mother) and Daniel Hernandez (Father or "The Old Man"). Both Dickson and Hernandez had excellent chemistry and were quite similar to their movie counterparts, but not to the point where it felt like they were copying the actors who played the roles in the movie. Dickson had a really great stage presence and Hernandez portrayed his character very well in his line readings. I'd say both actors were perfectly cast. Also worth mentioning is Julian Castellanos, who was quite loveable as Ralphie's younger brother, Randy. Overall, everybody in the cast did a wonderful job in their roles and all of the children in the cast were very adorable.
Veronica Frescas did a terrific job directing the show. The blocking was well done and they truly made the most of the Playhouse's stage. Fresca's and Christine Ambriz's set design was put together in a smart fashion. You can tell that they built the main house set in a way that they could have the rest of the locations in the show look good without it looking too cramped or cluttered on the small stage. So once again, Frecas and Ambriz did a admirable job designing the set and I'd say that it is one to be proud of. However, one of the only real issues I had with the show was that the scene changes got extremely bumpy. It didn't really throw off my entire opinion in the show, but it was hard not to notice. Same goes for the lighting design, also done by Veronica Frescas. During the show's dream sequences, the lights would change colors. During the first dream sequence, I thought it was a error, but then when it happened during all of the other ones, I sort of just accepted it.
I thought the El Paso Playhouse's production of A Christmas Story was delightful and I loved it. It was very heartwarming and did a spot on job getting me into the holiday spirit. With this production, the Playhouse broke their tradition of doing another holiday classic, It's a Wonderful Life. This show was so good that I wouldn't mind one bit if they made A Christmas Story a tradition because I would go every year. This marks the end of this review because thirty minutes from now (I am writing this on Sunday, December 17), FOX's A Christmas Story: Live! will be beginning. So, I will be watching this story for the second night in a row. So, click over to my next review because I am sure I will have thoughts about FOX's televised production. Thanks and go support the Playhouse and their quality productions!
The El Paso Playhouse production of A Christmas Story was directed by Veronica Frescas and the cast consisted of:
Ralph as an adult- TRAVIS BEVIS
Ralphie Parker- JOAQUIN PORRAS
Mother- MINDEN DICKSON
The Old Man- DANIEL ORLANDO HERNANDEZ
Randy- JULIAN CATELLANOS
Miss Sheilds- EURYDICE SAUCEDO
Flick- LUIS SOTO
Schwartz- IVAN MENDOZA-SANCHEZ
Esther Jane- CHRISTINA RAMIREZ
Helen- TONI MARIE GONZALEZ
Scut Farkus- HERNAN CASTELLANOS
Extra- MICAELA CATELLANOS
Since A Christmas Story is such an iconic movie, I am not going to waste time describing the plot. Here is the Wikipedia page if for whatever inexcusable reason, you haven't seen it.
The El Paso Playhouse production of A Christmas Story did a very nice job of capturing the spirit of the original film and that is a huge part of what made this production so enjoyable and memorable. Although we have all seen the scenes from this movie about a thousand times, I found myself laughing hysterically. I wasn't laughing as if each moment were new, but because the cast did such a great job delivering these moments and everything about these moments just felt so right. With such familiar material, it can be hard to deliver it without it feeling stale, but this production made the entire show feel fresh, yet very nostalgic and familiar at the same time.
Overseeing the entire show was the older version of the protagonist, Ralphie, who was played by Travis Bevis. Anybody who attends this production MUST give Bevis mad props because he is onstage for the entire show and has so many lines and lots of blocking. Bevis did a superb job narrating the show and occasionally becoming different characters in the world of the plot. As his younger counterpart, Joaquin Porras was very bright and hard not to love. Each member of the cast did very well playing off one another, but Porras and Bevis especially. It also helped that at certain angles, they looked alike.
The parents were played by Minden Dickson (Mother) and Daniel Hernandez (Father or "The Old Man"). Both Dickson and Hernandez had excellent chemistry and were quite similar to their movie counterparts, but not to the point where it felt like they were copying the actors who played the roles in the movie. Dickson had a really great stage presence and Hernandez portrayed his character very well in his line readings. I'd say both actors were perfectly cast. Also worth mentioning is Julian Castellanos, who was quite loveable as Ralphie's younger brother, Randy. Overall, everybody in the cast did a wonderful job in their roles and all of the children in the cast were very adorable.
Veronica Frescas did a terrific job directing the show. The blocking was well done and they truly made the most of the Playhouse's stage. Fresca's and Christine Ambriz's set design was put together in a smart fashion. You can tell that they built the main house set in a way that they could have the rest of the locations in the show look good without it looking too cramped or cluttered on the small stage. So once again, Frecas and Ambriz did a admirable job designing the set and I'd say that it is one to be proud of. However, one of the only real issues I had with the show was that the scene changes got extremely bumpy. It didn't really throw off my entire opinion in the show, but it was hard not to notice. Same goes for the lighting design, also done by Veronica Frescas. During the show's dream sequences, the lights would change colors. During the first dream sequence, I thought it was a error, but then when it happened during all of the other ones, I sort of just accepted it.
I thought the El Paso Playhouse's production of A Christmas Story was delightful and I loved it. It was very heartwarming and did a spot on job getting me into the holiday spirit. With this production, the Playhouse broke their tradition of doing another holiday classic, It's a Wonderful Life. This show was so good that I wouldn't mind one bit if they made A Christmas Story a tradition because I would go every year. This marks the end of this review because thirty minutes from now (I am writing this on Sunday, December 17), FOX's A Christmas Story: Live! will be beginning. So, I will be watching this story for the second night in a row. So, click over to my next review because I am sure I will have thoughts about FOX's televised production. Thanks and go support the Playhouse and their quality productions!
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Ralph as an adult- TRAVIS BEVIS
Ralphie Parker- JOAQUIN PORRAS
Mother- MINDEN DICKSON
The Old Man- DANIEL ORLANDO HERNANDEZ
Randy- JULIAN CATELLANOS
Miss Sheilds- EURYDICE SAUCEDO
Flick- LUIS SOTO
Schwartz- IVAN MENDOZA-SANCHEZ
Esther Jane- CHRISTINA RAMIREZ
Helen- TONI MARIE GONZALEZ
Scut Farkus- HERNAN CASTELLANOS
Extra- MICAELA CATELLANOS
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