Entertainment: SVCT’s ‘A Christmas Story’ is a warm-hearted childhood comedy
The show about a boy and his family opens Nov. 18 at Morgan Hill Community Playhouse
From top left: Shawna Gonzales as “Mother,” Keith Larson as “The Old Man.” From bottom left: Jase Puente as “Randy,” and Matthew Horta as “Ralphie Parker” in South Valley Civic Theatre’s holiday play “A Christmas Story.”
By Marty Cheek
The narrative of a boy’s hilarious holiday misadventures in a nostalgic small town America will be told on stage in South Valley Civic Theatre’s production of the comical play “A Christmas Story.”
Based on the beloved 1983 film, the play is presented in a series of warm vignettes told by an adult narrator looking back at childhood innocence. It stars 10-year-old Matthew Horta as “Ralphie Parker,” a child in the fictional town of Hammond, Ind., who wants only one thing from Santa Claus: a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle. Ralphie’s wish is rejected by his mother, his teacher Miss Shields, and even a mean department store Santa, all warning him: “You’ll shoot your eye out.”
A fifth grader at El Roble Elementary School in Gilroy, Horta is “really excited” and also a bit nervous for opening night as he polishes up his role as the dorky Ralphie.
“It’s the main role of the show and there’s a lot of pressure,” he said. “It’s a funny and classic (show).”
Shawna Gonzales plays Ralphie’s mother, trying to keep the Parker household in balance with two sons and a father obsessed with winning the “major award” in a crossword puzzle contest: a table lamp in the shape of a woman’s leg wearing a fishnet stocking.
“‘Mom’ has to keep herself together for the good of the family,” she said. “I am a mom, I have two little girls, 12 and eight — and so I can relate a lot of what the mom is going through.”
The show provides a warm message to the audience that no family is perfect, every family has a bit of crazy to it, and despite the madness, it’s not presents but the spirit of love that makes a special Christmas, she said.
“There’s a great speech at the end of the play,” she said. “‘Even if your turkey gets eaten by the dogs, and you have to go out to a Chinese restaurant, it really doesn’t matter at the end because you’re spending time with your family and you all love each other even if things are going haywire.’”
As the father — affectionately called “The Old Man” — Keith Larson considers “A Christmas Story” a classic family holiday play. He recalls first seeing the movie version as a young child about “Ralphie’s” age when the electricity went out in his neighborhood and his dad took the family to the cinema.
He enjoys the story because it cuts through the fantasy of a perfect Christmas and shows the human side of the characters.
“Everyone has this Norman Rockwell version about what Christmas should be,” Larson said. “And in (the play) everything goes wrong — and it could not have made the holiday any better . . . As much as time and generations have changed and evolved, I still look at this story as completely timeless. My kids love it because they see their Christmases and they see the relationship they have with their mother and the pratfalls. I don’t know if we’re really that different as the people in the world that’s portrayed in ‘A Christmas Story.’”
The show’s director Allie Bailey said the cast and crew have formed a close family that makes the performances stand out. The audience will feel transported to a “simpler” time in a small community where people still might have had problems but they muddled through them because they cared about each other.
“It gets you in a Christmas mood even before Thanksgiving,” she said. “Christmas for me is about family. This is a very family friendly show people can identify with — whether they’re young or old. There’s a lot of comedy in this show so it’s a great night out.”
The performers in “A Christmas Story”
Matthew Horta as “Ralphie Parker,” Jery Rosas as “Ralph Parker,” Tristan Duarte as “Flick,” Clara Shem-Tov as “Helen,” Marilyn Pifer as “Ms Shields,” Shawna Gonzales as “Mother,” Miriam Shem-Tov as Schwartz,” Joey King as “Farkus,” Keith Larson as “The Old Man,” Jase Puente as “Randy,” Xander Duarte as “Grover Dill,” Michael Grimm as “Santa Claus,” Brodie Bourke, Cate Pace as “Elves/Ensemble,” and Kelly Kobata as “Esther Jane.”
The play is produced by Ingrid Rottman and Michael Horta and directed by Allie Bailey. Joseph Ramirez is the stage manager, Dana Scribner is the Lead Stage Deck Manager, Kimberly Lynch is costume designer, Mykal Philbin is lighting designer, Brian Bourke is sound designer, and Lori Foster is the props designer.
