The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
It’s time for Christmas theater traditions
It’s time for two Northeast Ohio stage traditions to raise the curtains
The Cleveland Play House’s ‘A Christmas Story’ and Great Lakes Theater’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ are coming soon.
Among the many iconic memories from Northeast Ohio Christmas pasts are visiting Mr. Jingeling, riding the Rapid Transit downtown to glance into the window displays and taking in the holiday decorations at local malls.
Something that has been added to that list is the Great Lakes Theater’s annual production of “A Christmas Carol,” which this year celebrates its 30th anniversary and appears Nov. 30 through Dec. 23 in the Ohio Theatre at Playhouse Square.
Somebody who was there from the very beginning as the assistant director is Vicky Bussert, who returns to direct the popular Northeast Ohio tradition.
“It’s pretty amazing because I can still remember year one very well,” Bussert said. “I love coming back to it each time because I feel a little bit of responsibility to (former Great Lakes Theater Artistic Director) Gerald Freedman’s vision. It was such a seminal production for Great Lakes, and really for several years I think it was really what was holding the theater afloat.
“One of the things that I love about Gerry’s version is that he was so true to Charles Dickens’ language due to the fact that we’re a classic theater. We didn’t dumb down ‘A Christmas Carol,’ which a lot of theaters do.”
While this year does boast a few upgrades in costumes and set pieces, Bussert said the heart of the performance remains.
The appeal of the Great Lakes Theater production includes a chain-wielding Jacob Marley’s Ghost, backdrop-breaking scenery and its imaginative story within a story involving the Cleaveland family gathering in its Victorian-era parlor on Christmas Eve to read Dickens’ book.
“For Gerry, it was about really reflecting the depth of what Dickens was saying,” Bussert said. “It’s a journey we’re taken on with Scrooge in terms of discovering his humanity and the importance of people beyond himself. I think it does have a special relevance in our world today as we weigh these same questions.”
Northeast Ohio is lucky enough to have not one but two holiday theater traditions with the Cleveland
Play House’s production of classic feature film comedy “A Christmas Story” returning with performances Nov. 23 through Dec. 23 at Playhouse Square’s Allen Theatre.
Based on the 1983 motion picture written by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown and Bob Clark that was filmed in Cleveland, “A Christmas Story” tells the story of 9-year-old Ralphie Parker and his quest for a shiny new Red Ryder BB gun.
Returning to direct his sixth consecutive “A Christmas Story” is John McCluggage, who admittedly came late to the feature film, which still gets a marathon airing on TNT during the holidays.
“In 2005, I was hired in Buffalo to direct the show, but I had never watched the
movie,” McCluggage said. “My big thing was ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ So I finally watched ‘A Christmas Story’ and got why people enjoy it so much: because it’s intergenerational. It’s kind of hard with young people to sit down and watch ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ but Jean Shepherd was an incredible writer and raconteur.
“He was able to capture both innocence of childhood and the jaded qualities of adults around this time of commercialization. So the whole family can sit down and enjoy it from their particular perspective and their life experience.”
That’s exactly what the Cleveland Play House’s production incorporates with all of the film’s memorable elements: the leg lamp, bunny suit and, of course, the line everybody wants to hear — “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid.”
The other element of catching a production of “A Christmas Story” in Cleveland is the audience’s sense of ownership. McCluggage said he’s witnessed this phenomenon.
“In my opinion, Cleveland, even though it’s a major U.S. city, is still a very small town,” McCluggage said. “So the idea that this play takes place in a home in a little Midwestern town is something that resonates. That’s why they love it so much.”