Believe, or Pay Cash

The Pennington Players will re-create some of the memorable scenes from the classic holiday film ‘A Christmas Story’ at Kelsey Theater.

By: Jim Boyle
A Christmas Story at Kelsey Theatre in West Windsor Dec. 10-19.>
   Christmas movies have become pretty standardized in recent years. That’s one of the reasons why 1983’s A Christmas Story has become such a classic film and a holiday necessity. The squeaky clean luster of previous Yuletide movies is ripped away like a Band-Aid, revealing an authentic holiday experience, warts and all. Other films have tried to imitate the true-to-life style and come up short.
   The Pennington Players will attempt to re-create some of the movie’s memorable moments and keep its heart intact with a stage production of A Christmas Story at Kelsey Theatre on the campus of Mercer County Community College Dec. 10-19.
   "Rehearsals are going really well," says director Bobbi Mendel. "We’ve got 13 people in the cast, and they’re really coming together. We’re starting to see what it will be like opening night."
   The play, adapted by Philip Grecian, is based on the original film, which was based on Jean Shepherd’s book In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash, a collection of short stories he wrote for Playboy during the 1960s. The story is told through the eyes of 9-year-old Ralphie Parker (Ian Lowry), who narrates the action as an adult (Steve Decker). He’s the oldest son of a family living in Indiana during the 1940s. Christmas is around the corner, and Ralphie knows exactly what he wants, a Red Ryder Air Rifle. The only problem is that everyone, including his parents, teachers and even Santa Claus, thinks he’ll shoot his eye out.
   Between the scenes about the rifle, there’s also a story about growing up in Small Town, U.S.A., with the curmudgeonly dad (Ray Pental) and the understanding mother (Dara Lewis), and the little brother that always tags along (Jacob McGlew). There’s the group of schoolyard buddies, double-dog daring each other to pull crazy stunts, such as sticking their tongues to the frozen flag pole.
   "We’ve kept almost all of the movie in the play," says Ms. Mendel, who has been directing for 15 years. "We rearranged some of it and added two characters that were in the book, but not the movie."
   That includes Ralphie getting the Easter Bunny pajamas from his aunt, the Little Orphan Annie decoder ring and, yes, the infamous leg lamp. Audience members will have an opportunity to bring that last prop home by buying chances at each performance. A drawing will be held Dec. 19, but the winner does not have to be present to accept the prize, which is an authentic reproduction of the film’s lamp.
   For the play to work, Ms. Mendel needed the right person to play Ralphie. The story rests mostly on his shoulders; he needs to get the audience on his side. Besides a Christmas story, it’s also a coming-of-age tale as Ralphie starts to move from childhood to adolescence. He still believes in Santa Claus, but he wants St. Nick to bring him a gun. He finally stands up to his bully (Jesse Girard) and uses a four-letter word. Not just any four-letter word, but the four-letter word. It’s a lot of pressure, but Ms. Mendel knows that Hopewell resident Ian Lowry can handle it.
   "We went through a lot of auditions for Ralphie," says Ms. Mendel, a librarian at Villa Victoria Academy in Ewing. "We gave them a couple of pages and watched everything they did. Ian read with the most expression, like he already had the part. He’s going to be great."
A Christmas Story plays at Kelsey Theatre, Mercer County Community College, 1200 Old Trenton Road, West Windsor, Dec. 10-19. Performances: Fri. 8 p.m., Sat.-Sun. 2, 8 p.m. Dec. 17 show will be sign interpreted for the hearing impaired. Tickets cost $12, $10 seniors/students/children. For information, call (609) 584-9444. On the Web: www.kelseyatmccc.org. Pennington Players on the Web: www.penningtonplayers.org