CAST’s Production of “A Christmas Story” Is Sold Out
The cast of Clearfield Arts Studio Theatre is ready to present the Christmas classic, A Christmas Story. The play, based on the popular film made in 1983, sold out almost immediately after tickets became available. However, tickets are still available for their 2024 season on their website, www.clearfieldarts.org. (Photo by Cassandra Baumgardner courtesy of CAST)
By Julie Rae Rickard
CLEARFIELD – Clearfield Arts Studio Theatre’s production of the annual favorite A Christmas Story has been sold out!
The show’s last performances will be Dec. 14, 15 and 16 at 7:30 p.m. All their shows sold out online within 48 hours according to a press release from CAST.
An additional performance was added for Dec. 10 which also sold out quickly.
“CAST previously had plans to present Winter Wonderettes in December 2023. However, December marks the 40th year since the debut of the film A Christmas Story. Because of this, we have decided to close our 40th year at CAST with this show!” the release states.
This change appears to have been a great idea.
The movie, A Christmas Story was not considered a big success when first released in theaters in 1983. But since that time has grown to being a cult classic.
Its place in movie history was solidified when TNT started airing the movie for 24 hours beginning on Christmas Eve and ending Christmas Day in 1997. Later TBS also started showing marathons of the film, making watching it a Christmas tradition in many homes.
The movie continues to have millions of viewers and the Christmas Eve broadcast sometimes beats the major networks programming.
The play is based on the original film which itself was based on humorist Jean Shepherd’s memoirs of growing up in the Midwest in the 1940s. This includes In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash from 1966 and Wanda Hickey’s Night of Golden Memories and Other Disasters from 1971.
The story follows 9-year-old Ralphie Parker in his quest to get a genuine Red Ryder BB gun under the tree for Christmas. Ralphie pleads his case before his mother, his teacher and even Santa Claus himself at Higbee’s Department Store.
Each of them gives him the same response and warning: “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, the school bully; the boys’ experiment with a wet tongue on a cold lamppost; the Little Orphan Annie decoder pin; Ralphie’s father winning a lamp shaped like a woman’s leg in a net stocking; Ralphie’s fantasy scenarios and more,” it says in the release.
This production is directed by Mason and Kellie Strouse.
Due to tickets being sold out, CAST encourages season ticket holders who are not planning on using their tickets, to give them to someone else or let CAST know so the seats can be released and resold.
Although they are not planning on starting a waiting list for tickets, it is possible a small number of tickets may become available. Watch CAST’s Facebook page for more information or check with the box office prior to the show.
If you are looking for other Christmas entertainment, the Clearfield Choral Society concert, On This Day, Earth Shall Ring is on Sunday, Dec. 17 at 3:30 p.m. at the Clearfield Presbyterian Church.
“In the 1940s and 1950s, American composers Alfred Burt and Sven Lekberg were writing original carols and Christmas messages to be sent as their Christmas cards for each respective year to their family and friends. Lekberg, in addition, would present his yearly Christmas messages at his Christmas parties, where he, his wife, and his guests would gather around the piano and sing the new composition together,” it says on the CAST website.
“Now, the Clearfield Choral Society brings these Christmas greetings to you, joining them with greetings, carols, and hymn tunes used to welcome the holiday throughout history.”
You can get tickets on the CAST website, www.clearfieldarts.org.
If you want to get a jump on CAST’s 2024 productions, season tickets are now available.
It begins with Rock of Ages in late Feb. and early March, On Golden Pond in late April and early May, Cabaret in late July and early Aug., The Miser in Sept. and ends with All Quiet on the Western Front in Nov.
CAST notes that anyone ordering tickets online will receive a confirmation email from TicketPeak.
“If you do not receive a confirmation email within a few minutes of ordering, please check your junk folder before contacting them to resend the confirmation. Also note that tickets should only be purchased through TicketPeak or from someone you know and trust personally,” it warns in the release.