Classic A Christmas Story comes to Renaissance Center stage

Release Date: 11/21/2002. Expired: 12/15/2002

Ralphie Parker’s quest for a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas has become a seasonal classic on television. The Renaissance Players bring Jean Shepherd’s story to the stage as The Renaissance Center presents A Christmas Story in the Performance Hall Dec. 5-15.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and $5 for children under 13. Shows are at 7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.

“You can’t help but get into the Christmas spirit with this play,” said Kim Leavitt, director of Theatre Education and Outreach at The Renaissance Center and managing director of the Renaissance Players. “It is a story that we’ve all been a part of in some form or fashion because its emphasis on family is timeless.”

Based on Shepherd’s book “In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash,” A Christmas Story recounts the hilarious story of the Parker family’s Christmas in the 1940s when 9-year-old Ralphie (Will Gunn) had nothing on his mind but getting a Red Ryder BB gun. Like the movie, the play is narrated by the adult Ralph Parker (Art Conn) who weaves together tales from his family, school and even a visit to the mall Santa as his quest is thwarted everywhere he turns by warnings of “You’ll shoot your eye out.”

All the elements from the beloved motion picture are here, including the family’s temperamental exploding furnace; Scut Farkas (Alex Kopischke), the school bully; the “wet tongue on a cold lamppost” experiment; the Little Orphan Annie decoder ring, and much more.

“This show is sure to delight every member of the family, whether you’ve seen the movie 100 times or never at all,” said Hal Partlow, managing director of the Renaissance Repertory Theatre Company who is directing the play. “It is a wholesome family story that everyone can relate to, which also in the end makes us feel good about traditional family values at Christmas.”

Clarksville theatre veteran Art Conn narrates the play as the grown-up Ralph. “I loved the movie and I knew The Renaissance Center would put on a great production of it,” said Conn, who directed last year’s holiday production The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

Ten-year-old Will Gunn of Dickson plays young Ralphie in his third holiday show at The Renaissance Center, having appeared in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and as Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol. Gunn said he wanted to play Ralphie “because he is kinda like me. We both wear glasses and stuff. And I would really like a Red Ryder BB gun. He lies really creative lies and he’s smart. He writes a really cool theme.”

Rachel Gunn plays the role of Mother, returning from playing the mother in last year’s The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. “I love the play. It captures the nostalgic child in all of us,” Gunn said. “Mother is a very doting and loving mom and wife. She tends to have a soft exterior but is inwardly very strong. She knows when to step back and let her men assert themselves.”

Ralph Henley of Nashville makes his Renaissance Players debut as The Old Man, fighting battles with the furnace and celebrating his grand prize. A veteran actor and musician, Henley calls The Old Man “a child at heart, a classic feeler and reactive.”

After his role as the Giant in this year’s Youth Theatrical Outreach Program of Jack and the Beanstalk, John Harris of Hickman County takes on the role of Randy, Ralphie’s younger brother, in his Renaissance Players debut.

Renaissance Players veteran Beth Burch of Bellevue plays Miss Shields, Ralphie’s schoolteacher. “I have adored this movie forever and I particularly wanted to play the teacher because she gets to do the fantasy scenes and she gets to dress up like the wicked witch - my alter ago,” Burch said.

Franklin’s Wade Funderburg is making his Renaissance Players debut as Flick, Ralphie’s friend who has the misfortune of being on the wrong end of a hilarious “triple-dog dare.”

Daniel Chapdelaine of Fairview is Schwartz, another of Ralphie’s friends. “I wanted to be in this play because my Mom and my Dad think I am good at acting,” Chapdelaine said. “Plus I know how to do the play because I’ve seen the movie.”

Hope Arent, a third grader at Harpeth Valley Elementary in Nashville, makes her Renaissance Players debut as Esther Jane Alberry, who has a serious crush on Ralphie. “I wanted to be in this play because I love to act but I’ve never been in a real play,” Arent said. “My character is in love with Ralphie Parker. She is sweet and sort of loving. Esther Jane is multi-dimensional.”

Aleisha Spann of Burns fills the role of Helen Weathers, another schoolmate. She returns to The Renaissance Center stage after appearing as Cinderella in Jack and the Beanstalk while also having a role in an episode of Dark Encounters Investigated, the center’s paranormal investigations program.

At 12 years old, Alex Kopischke already has five community theatre productions to his credit, including A Christmas Carol twice, Oklahoma, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Wizard of Oz. The White Bluff resident has the role of the schoolyard bully Scut Farkas.

The hilarious family visit to the mall Santa has Sam Collier of Charlotte playing the grumpy Kris Kringle in his first Renaissance Players production. “I always wanted to act, so after I retired I came down to try out,” Collier said.

Santa is assisted by a pair of hateful elves played by Heather Funderburg and Tory Gunn. Funderburg recently appeared as Tintinabula in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum while Gunn had roles in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and A Christmas Carol.

Nathan Spurgens is making his Renaissance Players debut as the Delivery Man while Joe Chapdelaine is in his first role as the Tree Salesman.

For more information on A Christmas Story, call (615)740-5600. To purchase tickets, call (615)740-5570 or visit The Renaissance Center ticket office at 855 Highway 46 South in Dickson, just 35 miles west of Nashville on Interstate 40 at exit 172.

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