Playhouse Stage Company is set to kick off its 37th season with A Christmas Story: The Musical from Dec 4 to 22.
Cohoes Music Hall opens with the musical 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. 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 novel 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 and George Franklin.
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 Ashley-Simone 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.
For more information on the upcoming show at Cohoes Music Hall – A Christmas Story: The Musical and to purchase tickets, click here.
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