Cohoes Music Hall Presents “A Christmas Story: The Musical”
Written by Staff on November 27, 2024
PLAYHOUSE STAGE COMPANY OPENS 37TH SEASON WITH A CHRISTMAS STORY: THE MUSICAL AT COHOES MUSIC HALL DECEMBER 4 – 22
Musical adaptation of classic holiday film comedy features music by Dear Evan Hansen and Greatest Showman composer-lyricists Benji Pasek and Justin Paul
Cohoes, N.Y. (November 27, 2024) – Playhouse Stage Company will open its 37th Season next week, as A Christmas Story: The Musical opens on Wednesday, December 4 at 7pm. Performances continue through December 22nd, with 7pm evening performances Wednesday through Saturday, as well as 2pm matinees on Saturdays and Sundays.
Complimentary tickets for A Christmas Story: The Musical” are available throughout the run for members of the media and local theatre press who wish to cover or review the production. Local new stations are encouraged to film footage of the performance. To request tickets, please email Owen Smith, Producing Artistic Director, at owen@playhousestage.org. Production photos will be sent to the media on Wednesday, December 4.
The season kicks off with holiday season entertainment for young and old alike. A hilarious and heart-warming crowd pleaser, A Christmas Story: The Musical tells the story of nine-year-old Ralphie Parker, who has pinned his hopes on getting a “Red Ryder Carbine Action BB Gun” for Christmas. The musical, with a book by Joseph Robinette, features all the iconic moments from the film, from the leg lamp award, to the bunny suit, to Ralphie’s friend Flick getting his tongue stuck to a frozen metal pole. It boasts a soaring, energetic score by Pasek and Paul, known for their work on Dear Evan Hansen, The Greatest Showman and more. The show is based on the 1983 MGM film, as well as the film’s inspiration, the nove In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash by Jean Shepherd. The musical adaptation premiered on Broadway in 2012, in a production that featured two Playhouse Stage Company students and Capital Region natives, Jack Mastrianni (as the bully, Scut Farkus), and George Franklin.
“A Christmas Story is an ideal vehicle through which we can feature the region’s most talented young performers in our fantastic Playhouse Stage Academy students,” said PSC Producing Artistic Director Owen Smith. “Our fantastic young students will appear in age-appropriate roles alongside dynamite regional professional actors, with a world-class design and creative team guiding them,” Smith continued.
A Christmas Story: The Musical is directed by long-time PSC Director Michael LoPorto, returning to the company after most recently directing the celebrated 2023 production of Something Rotten at Park Playhouse. LoPorto is joined by frequent collaborator Brian Axford as Musical Director. Playhouse Stage Teaching Artist and performer Gabi Bazinet-Douglas makes her PSC choreography debut on A Christmas Story after appearing as Brooke Wyndham in this past summer’s Legally Blonde: The Musical. The cast is led by well-known Capital Region actor and Sage Theatre Institute Professor David Baecker, as the show’s narrator, Jean Shepherd, as well as by PSC student Jack Holick as young Ralphie Parker. Joining them in the 26-person cast are Playhouse veterans Molly Rose McGrath and Nick Martiniano as Ralphie’s parents, and PSC Director of Education and Associate Artistic Director AshleySimone Kirchner, returning to the stage for the first time since 2019’s Avenue Q to play Ralphie’s teacher, Miss Shields.
The 37th Playhouse Stage Company Season continues in February with the dark musical comedy Heathers: The Musical, adapted from the 1989 cult classic film. In addition to productions at Cohoes Music Hall, the company will return to Park Playhouse in Albany’s Washington Park, and Guilderland Performing Arts Center in Tawasentha Park to present free, outdoor musical theatre for the community during Summer, 2025. Details about title selection and schedule will be announced in January.
Tickets and 37th Season Memberships are now on sale at the Cohoes Music Hall and Playhouse Stage box office. Adult tickets are $4000, with $30.00 available for Seniors (65 and older), and $20 tickets for under 18. Tickets may be purchased online at www.playhousestage.org, in person at 58 Remsen Street in Cohoes, or by phone at 518-434-0776. More information about Playhouse Stage Company and its productions can be found online at www.playhousestage.org. ###
RadioRadioX