Souvenir Brochure written & designed by Curio Productions, Inc., Far Hills, NJ.Production photographs by Carol Rosegg.“Cowboy Ralphie” and “Bunny Suit” photographs by Chase Newhart.The information in this publication is correct at press time. Original National Tour Cast.Daisy is a registered trademark of Daisy Outdoor Products, Rogers, Arkansas. Jujubes is a registered trademark of Farley’s & Sathers Candy Company, Inc., Round Lake, Minnesota.Lionel is a registered trademark of Lionel, LLC, Chesterfield Township, Michigan. Little Orphan Annie is a registered trademark of Tribune Media Services, Chicago, Illinois. Ovaltine is a registered trademark of Nestlé, Vevey, Switzerland. Red Ryder is a registered trademark of Red Ryder Enterprises, Inc., Tampa, Florida. All trademarks and copyrighted material are the property of their respective owners.

www.AChristmasStoryTheMusical.com

GERALD GOEHRING ROY MILLER MICHAEL F. MITRI PAT FLICKER ADDISS PETER BILLINGSLEY MARIANO TOLENTINO LOUISE H. BEARD MICHAEL FILERMAN

SCOTT HART TIMOTHY LACZYNSKI BARTNER/JENKINS ENTERTAINMENT ANGELA MILONAS BRADFORD W. SMITH present “A CHRISTMAS STORY, THE MUSICAL! ”

BOOK BY JOSEPH ROBINETTE MUSIC &

LYRICS BY BENJ PASEK & JUSTIN PAULBased upon the motion picture “A Christmas Story ” © 1983 Turner Entertainment Co., distributed by Warner Bros.,

written by JEAN SHEPHERD, LEIGH BROWN & BOB CLARK and upon “In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash” written by JEAN SHEPHERDSET

DESIGN WALT SPANGLER COSTUMEDESIGN ELIZABETH HOPE CLANCY LIGHTING

DESIGN HOWELL BINKLEY SOUNDDESIGN KEN TRAVIS ASSOCIATE

CHOREOGRAPHER JAMES GRAY HAIR & WIG

DESIGN TOM WATSON CASTING STEPHANIE KLAPPER, CSA VOCALARRANGEMENTS JUSTIN PAUL MUSIC

COORDINATOR TALITHA FEHR PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER TRIPP PHILLIPS

TECHNICAL SUPERVISOR FRED GALLO GENERAL

MANAGEMENT ALCHEMY PRODUCTION GROUP CARL PASBJERG & FRANK SCARDINO NATIONAL PRESSREPRESENTATIVE KEITH SHERMAN & ASSOCIATES

MARKETING CURIO PRODUCTIONS ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS DANCAP PRODUCTIONS, INC. JEFFREY JACKSON RIC ZIVIC

ORCHESTRATIONS LARRY BLANK MUSIC DIRECTION & SUPERVISION IAN EISENDRATH DANCE MUSIC

ARRANGEMENTS GLEN KELLYCHOREOGRAPHED

BY WARREN CARLYLEDIRECTED

BY JOHN RANDO

CLARKE HALLUMas Ralphie Parker

JOHN BOLTONas The Old Man

RACHEL BAY JONESas Mother

GENE WEYGANDTas Jean Shepherd

KAREN MASONas Miss Shields

MATTHEW LEWISas Randy

ADAM PELTYas Santa

CLARKE HALLUM

CLARKE HALLUM

CLARKE HALLUM and COMPANY

JOHN BOLTON and CLARKE HALLUM

RACHEL BAY JONES, CLARKE HALLUM,and JOHN BOLTON

RACHEL BAY JONES and CLARKE HALLUM

RACHEL BAY JONES, JOHN BOLTON, CLARKE HALLUM and MATTHEW LEWIS

“Ralphie to the rescue!”

Ralphie Parker wants only one thing for Christmas: an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action 200-shot Range Model

Air Rifle. Set in the 1940s in the fictional town of Hohman, Indiana, A Christmas Story tells of Ralphie’s desperate quest to ensure that this most perfect of gifts ends up under his tree.

The biggest obstacle standing in his way is his mother’s fear that “You’ll shoot your eye out!” But Ralphie is a man with a mission, and he hatches a series of schemes designed to win his coveted holiday prize.

Along the way, he has to deal with his annoying little brother, a friend with his tongue frozen to a flagpole, a yellow-eyed bully, a cantankerous department store Santa, the neighbors’ dogs, his old man’s obsession with a “major award” he’s won in a contest, an attack on their Christmas turkey, a smoke-belching furnace, and an untimely, four-lettered slip of his tongue.

This timeless holiday tale began life, of course, in the mind of author, radio host, raconteur, and comic genius Jean Shepherd (1921-99). Based on his childhood in 1930s Indiana, Shepherd spun a series of tales that he either published as short stories, read for his radio audience, or presented live on the college circuit.

These stories were woven together by Shepherd, screenwriter Leigh Brown, and director Bob Clark into a screenplay for the 1983 MGM film A Christmas Story, starring Peter Billingsley, Darren McGavin, and Melinda Dillon. In its theatrical release, the film’s box office performance was only mediocre, but after Ted Turner purchased the MGM film library in 1986, the film found a new life on cable television. Beginning in the late 1980s and continuing through the 90s until today, A Christmas Story has steadily grown in popularity and now occupies the number one spot on several prominent lists of all-time favorite Christmas movies.

In 2010, this musical theater adaptation of the now-classic story premiered at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre, featuring a book by veteran playwright Joseph Robinette and music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. It’s a refreshing holiday portrait of a simpler time in America that captures every child’s holiday wonder with deliciously wicked wit, a nostalgic eye, and a heart of gold. A Christmas Story, The Musical! is a Christmas present that audiences of all ages will be sure to embrace and cherish for generations to come.

The Story

d

“It’s a major award!”

JOHN BOLTON and RACHEL BAY JONES

CLARKE HALLUM, MATTHEW LEWIS, JOHN BOLTON and RACHEL BAY JONES

JOHN BOLTON

JOHN BOLTON

JOHN BOLTON and COMPANY

JOHN BOLTON and COMPANY

Jean Shepherd (1921-1999) was a writer, humorist, satirist, actor, radio raconteur, TV & film personality, and

an American original. He was a master story teller in the league of Mark Twain, S.J. Perlman

and P.G. Wodehouse. Taking bits and pieces from his own life, he weaved tales of the joys, humor,

intrigue and angst of growing up.His youth in Hammond, Indiana, his adventures

in the Army Signal Corps, and stories of the obscure and infamous were all fertile sources for his tales. For almost three decades he told

these stories to eager radio audiences. In Cincinnati between 1950 and 1954, “Shep”

did a DJ show from Shuller’s Wigwam on WSAI and a nightly comedy show on WLW

called “Rear Bumpers.” This led to a television version at KYW in Philadelphia. In 1956, Shep moved to the Big Apple on WOR New York where, for 21 years, listeners all over the Northeast were treated to a nightly dose of genius. His shows were a menagerie of comments, silly songs, jokes

and other digressions, all orbiting around a central tale. Although he claimed that his shows took days of preparation, people

who worked with him say he improvised most of his talk. He addressed his listeners

as, “You fatheads,” and used his favorite word, “excelsior,” repeatedly with varying

definitions.Shep always loved the stage. He began his

entertainment career in Chicago as a performer at the Goodman Theatre and did night club acts

on Rush Street. Shep appeared on Broadway in Leonard Sillman’s revue New Faces in 1962 and Voice of the Turtle, and played a dance instructor in the film The Light Fantastic (1963).

Shep also wrote a column for The Village Voice, published short stories, and contributed articles to Reader’s Digest, Town & Country, and a variety of other publications.

In the 1970s, he took his talents to television in a series of humorous narratives for PBS called “Jean Shepherd’s America,” which later continued on the PBS New Jersey Network as “Shepherd’s Pie.” Here, he was able to show us the more off-beat aspects of America and particularly the state he loved to ridicule. Shep actually lived in Washington Township, New Jersey during this time, and his commute up and down Route 22 yielded a unique perspective on modern American culture, which inspired a series of teleplays for PBS/WGBH’s “American Playhouse.”

Eight record albums of Shep’s live and studio performances were released between 1955 and 1975, and he was a popular performer on college campuses, where the standing-room-only crowds would greet him with wild enthusiasm.

His most popular and enduring work, of course, is the 1983 MGM film A Christmas Story, which he narrated and co-wrote with his wife, screenwriter Leigh Brown, and the film’s director, Bob Clark. The film’s screenplay was drawn from Shep’s stories (some published, others only performed live) including “Duel in the Snow, or Red Ryder

Nails the Cleveland Street Kid,” “Flick’s Tongue,” and “In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash.”

During his final years, Jean and Leigh moved to Sanibel Island, Florida, where he died of natural causes on October 16, 1999. A year after his death, Jean Shepherd was inducted into the Broadcasting

Hall of Fame.

“Shep”

d

“It’s a sticky, sticky, sticky situation!”RACHEL BAY JONES

and MATTHEW LEWIS

JOHN BOLTON, CLARKE HALLUM, MATTHEW LEWIS and RACHEL BAY JONES

JAKE BENNETT SIEGFRIEDand CHARLIE PLUMMER

CASEY GORAB, SALLY ELTING and EMILY RUDOLPH

CASEY GORAB, CLARKE HALLUM, DREA GORDON, NICHOLAS DANIEL GONZALEZ, JOHNNY RABE, JAKE BENNETT SIEGFRIED and EMILY RUDOLPH

JONATHAN BURKE, GEORGE WOLFF, NICHOLAS DANIEL GONZALEZ andADAM PELTY

T he world of Ralphie Parker in A Christmas Story, The Musical!—America, circa 1940—is very different from that of today’s kids.

Yet some of its cultural icons still endure. Here are just a few toys and popular items of the day.. .

Radio Ruled! Television didn’t reach the mainstream until the 1950s. Before then, families like the Parkers gathered around the radio to listen to news broadcasts, quiz shows, mysteries, and popular programs like “Little Orphan Annie,” a 15-minute daily radio serial—and one of the

first created just for kids. The show was based on the wildly

popular comic strip by Harold Gray about the adventures of a young orphan girl, her dog Sandy, and her guardian, Daddy Warbucks.

Ovaltine & Secret Decoder Pins The chocolate drink mix Ovaltine was created

in 1904 in Switzerland, but its popularity soared when it became the sponsor of “The Little Orphan Annie Show” and offered Secret Decoder Pins in exchange for proofs of purchase. Each day, Annie would recite a coded message that contained a sneak preview of events from tomorrow’s program—which you could only decipher using the pin. (Some people remember them as rings, but those didn’t come until the 1960s.) The scripts for the radio program weren’t based on

the comic strip—they were written by Ovaltine’s Chicago ad agency. Not surprisingly, Annie would often pause in the middle of the story to extol the virtues of her favorite beverage.

Shirley Temple Dolls were one of the most popular toys in America. Manufactured by Ideal Toys and Novelty Company, they were modeled

after the child star of the films Bright Eyes, Heidi, and The Little Princess. By 1941, sales of the doll reached $45 million and Ms. Temple’s annual income from licensed merchandise was double what she earned in films.

Lionel Trains Before air travel became affordable, America’s love affair with railroads was unchallenged. Nowhere was that more evident than in the popularity of Lionel toy trains and model railroads—especially at Christmas. Elaborate train displays were often featured as part of department store holiday displays and kids routinely found a Lionel Train Set under the tree on Christmas morning.

The Open Road for Boys was a popular boy’s outdoor adventure fiction magazine from 1919 to 1950. A favorite Open Road feature was a cartoon contest which showed a drawing of a problem or situation and invited readers to submit their own cartoons depicting the solution.

The Movies Before TV, most folks went to the movies at least once a week and there were special Saturday morning showings just for kids. Ralphie could see a double feature, with newsreels and a cartoon—and get a candy bar—for only a dime! Low-budget adventure and

sci-fi movies like Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe were edited into a dozen or more “chapters” that each ended with a cliffhanger designed to lure the kids back for more the following week.

Roller Skates were a popular way for kids to have fun and get around. But skates back then were very different. The most common kind were made of metal and strapped clumsily to your own shoes. You adjusted the “fit” with a key. And because they were small, they were a little too easy to leave lying around—like on the basement stairs.

Jujubes (pronounced joo-joo-bees) are a candy drop created in 1920 and still available today. But in Ralphie’s day, it was a hard candy that you had to suck on. The first flavors were lilac, violet, rose, spearmint and lemon.d

Life in Ralphie’s America

E ven die-hard fans of A Christmas Story are often surprised to learn that the gift of Ralphie’s dreams—a Red Ryder BB Gun—

wasn’t a figment of the screenwriters’ imaginations. It was real! In fact, it still is.

Red Ryder was a fictional comic book cowboy in the 1940s, but the Red Ryder air gun, with its lever action, spring piston, smooth bore barrel, adjustable iron sights, and a gravity feed magazine with a 650 BB capacity, was a real product and highly desired by many American boys.

However, Jean Shepherd did

dream up the specific model, right down to

the compass and “this thing that tells time” which

were never a part of the Red Ryder BB Gun ( but the “Buck

Jones” Daisy Air Rifle did have a compass and sundial in the stock and

likely served as Shep’s inspiration). The Daisy Air Rifle Company actually had

its beginnings back in 1882 as the Plymouth Iron Windmill Company, a manufacturer of windmills in Michigan. However, by the late 1880s, the windmill business was changing and the struggling

company began looking for

new ways to attract customers. In 1886, Plymouth inventor Clarence

Hamilton introduced a new idea: a combination of metal and wire, vaguely

resembling a gun that could fire a lead ball using compressed air. Lewis Cass Hough, then president of the firm, gave it a try and, after his first shot, enthusiastically exclaimed, “Boy, that’s a daisy!” The name stuck and the BB gun went into production as a premium item given to

farmers when they purchased a windmill. The gun was such a huge success that Plymouth Iron Windmill soon began manufacturing the Daisy BB gun in place of windmills. On January 26, 1895 the company’s board of directors officially voted to change the name to Daisy Manufacturing Company, Inc.

The sturdy little Daisy BB gun quickly became a staple with American youth. Youngsters all across the land cut their shooting teeth on a Daisy. Competition was keen at the time, with guns such as Bulls Eye, Dewey, Hero, Dandy, Atlas and others appearing almost overnight and disappearing just as quickly.

Over the years, Daisy has continued to improve and expand their line of airguns, putting model after model within the reach of every young shooter’s pocketbook and skill level.

In 1958, the Daisy company moved to Rogers, Arkansas where the company continued to prosper and grow. One product more than any other played a major role in the company’s success. Introduced in 1939, the Daisy Red Ryder sold over 9 million units, easily making it the most famous BB gun ever built!

Today, Daisy has become a household word, selling guns in almost every country and on five continents.

Magazine ad from

the 1940s

First issue of the Red Ryder comic book series, September 1940.

IMPORTANT! Airguns are real guns, not toys. You or others can be killed or seriously injured if safety rules are not followed. For BB gun safety guidelines, visit www.daisy.com/tenrules.html

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CHARLIE PLUMMER, KAREN MASONand JOHN FRANCIS BABBO

JOHN BOLTON, ANDREW CRISTIand RACHEL BAY JONES

CLARKE HALLUM and COMPANY

ADAM PELTY, GENE WEYGANDT,CLARKE HALLUM and COMPANY

THE COMPANY

“What a Christmas story to behold...”