Last night, the now annual tradition of the live-televised musical returned…on FOX.
In past years, with NBC leading the way (and we thank them for their service) these live events became a bit of a snark fest on Twitter, but FOX has left little room for snark with its productions. Last January they gave us “Grease Live!” and showed NBC (who sat this December out) how it’s done.
This year the network did it again with a truly charming production of “A Christmas Story Live!”
Seriously, it truly was something special.
This musical adaptation was not a carbon copy of the original, because frankly, why would anyone do such a thing?
This version complements the original with style and theatrical flair…
Some have made the point that it was a weird year to do a live musical about a kid who wants nothing more in this world than a gun, to which I say…
That’s not what “A Christmas Story” is about…
It’s about family, childhood, traditions, special holiday memories, and so much more.
And that’s what the musical version highlights beautifully.
Plus it brought its A-game with some seriously amazing performances from Ana Gasteyer (because what was missing from “A Christmas Story” was clearly Hanukkah)…
…and Jane Krakowski…
…and it was worth turning this movie into a musical for the leg lamp dresses alone (not to mention the on-camera quick change transition (sigh))…
And to the four trolls out there who seemed really confused by the fact that this wasn’t the original movie…
I know you love the original movie. We love it too! We’re only a week away from 24 hours of what is apparently your favorite holiday film. You can make it. I believe in you.
…bi-daily smile…