For the past three months, Liberty High School’s theatre program has been preparing for its winter production. “A Christmas Story.” When it comes to preparing for a production, a lot of preparation is needed. You must memorize lines, get into character, set design, and many other things. One of the hardest things to do to prepare is memorizing lines. “To memorize my lines I study and read them over a lot. Sometimes I write them down,” said junior, Alanna Tapscott.
After all of their hard work, opening night finally comes. Their dedication and determination to put on a spectacular show all come out. Students read over their lines, make sure they have all of their props and costumes ready, and get into character. The set designers make sure that the set is finished, make sure the lighting is right, and make sure everyone is in place. After all is well, the show can come to life.
A Christmas Story was originally a family/comedy film produced in 1983, but this year Liberty High School put on the play version of A Christmas Story directed by Mr. Vest and student director, Brendon Schmidtz. Family, friends, students, and staff sat in the crowd to watch this marvelous rendition of A Christmas Story. And it all started at 7 o’clock.
The production started with an excellent performance by the Jazz band. These folks played a combination of your favorite Christmas songs. The first words were said by Ralph, played by Elijah Henley. The character Ralph is meant to be the older version of Ralphie in the production. Elijah showed excellent memorization and narration throughout the entire show.
One of the most memorable scenes is when a child, Flick, played by Remy Pena, gets dared to stick his tongue to a freezing pole outside during recess. Once Flick got triple dog dared, he had to stick his tongue to the pole. Proving everyone right, Flick’s tongue got stuck and he didn’t make it back to class. Their teacher, Miss Shields, played by Alanna Tapscott, got worried because Flick wasn’t in class. When one of the students told Miss Shields where he was, she went outside to find Flick stuck to a pole. When Flick returned to class, he couldn’t speak.
Later on, Ralphie, played by Kevin Eley, and his family went Christmas tree shopping. Once they left, the family got a flat tire. Ralphie’s mom allowed him to go outside and help his father fix the tire. When Ralphie saw the traffic, he may have slipped out a certain bad word that starts with an F. Ralphie got in huge trouble and the rest of the car ride home was silent. Kevin and Logan Taylor, the father, did an excellent job acting in this scene. When Kevin’s character let out the bad word, you could see the genuine fear in his eyes and Logan did an amazing job feeding off that energy and finishing the scene. When Ralphie and his family got home, he got his mouth washed out with soap. Ralphie was grounded shortly after.
Later on in class, a student tells another student that Ralphie likes her. After school, Ralphie was talking to his friends about how his parents won’t get him the BB gun he wants for Christmas because they said that he will “Shoot his eye out.” A little while later, Ralphie begins to brainstorm a theme for his new English assignment. After a lot of thinking, he finally decides on a theme. “What I want for Christmas”
Previously in the production, Ralphie’s father entered a contest. A week later, he found out that he had won! When the prize arrived at his house, he couldn’t have opened it quicker. When he looked inside the box, you wouldn’t believe what he found inside… A lamp made out of a leg and a lampshade. Seniors, Logan Taylor and Jazmyn Sullivan, not only did a great job in this scene, but they made it an extremely comedic scene. They had the entire crowd laughing their shoes off.
At the end of part 1 and the beginning of part 2, you hear another piece by the Jazz band. The first scene in part 2 begins with the children waiting in line to speak with Santa. However, Ralphie got nervous and asked for a football instead of his BB gun. When Ralphie realized what he had done, he came back and asked for the BB gun. Sadly, Santa said that he would just shoot his eye out.
About a week passes and it is finally Christmas morning. Ralphie and his brother rushed down the stairs to open presents. This year Ralphie was excited because he got to pass out the presents. However, Ralphie was very upset because he didn’t get the one thing he wanted, a BB gun. But when Ralphie’s dad told him to go up to the window, he found the most incredible thing, his BB gun!!!! Ralphie raced outside with his BB gun, but when he shot the gun, he broke his glasses. Ralphie was very nervous because he had proven everyone right. He had shot his eye out. But when Ralphie told his mom that his glasses broke, he didn’t tell her that he was the one who broke his glasses, so he was able to keep his gun.
On Christmas night, Ralphie fell asleep next to his gun because he loved it so much. And that’s his story. A story of family, a story of friends, a story of excitement, but most importantly, a story of Christmas.
Liberty High School’s theatre department did an amazing job on this show. Their hard work and dedication paid off because not only was the play creative, but it was so much fun to watch. This year you can expect to see more from the theatre department because they are putting on “Hazel’s Part 2” in February as well as “The Addams Family” in May. So when February and May come, don’t forget to go and watch their productions. You won’t regret it!
