This year, Skyline High School’s theater group put on A Christmas Story, the holiday musical. The play was presented on November 14th, 2024, and many community members watched and witnessed this Christmas special. A Christmas Story is based on the original 1983 film about a young boy named Ralphie Parker who is determined to get the holiday gift of his dreams. The play is light-hearted & funny just like the movie. The leads each brought something different to the stage. The play was well put on, and the actors embraced their characters extremely well.
Though the play was a success, cast members and outside critics presented grumblings about the play being put on. Many showed and expressed that they didn’t like the play, and it wasn’t the first pick for a show to put on. One cast member, Dylan Bywater stated, “It’s been kind of challenging for us to pull it off, because we have so much set, and we have so much costumes and costume changes but that’s part of the fun of it because you have a lot of fun memories.” The drama teacher and director, Krystal DeJesus, is new to Skyline and was the one who directed this year’s play. As a new teacher, she still made the play magical and enjoyable as best she could. Even though cast members and others were dissatisfied with the overall choice, it came out better than expected.
The inside of the old school was decorated from head to toe with Christmas decor, and volunteers helped run the concessions stand, filled with different Christmas and non-Christmas snacks, each delicious and decorated. Each part of the play was well thought out, and hours of practicing and rehearsals were put in to give Skyline and the community this well-performed play. One audience member added, “All of the cast and all of the orchestra is doing a fantastic job tonight, and it’s really fun to watch them, and you can just tell they got a lot of enthusiasm and worked really hard at their parts.”
The sets were also very detailed and well-made. Even from the back of the auditorium, it was visible to see the crew’s hard work in making the show come to life by adding the props. The leg lamp featured in the show was a big hit, especially because it was well-displayed. During the show, audience members complained that the microphones were poor quality as well as the sound portion of the show. Sound effects were off in some songs and transitions between certain scenes were slow. This portion of the play could have been better. The lead singers and ensemble performed a good show with minimal mistakes. Some of the harmony was off and the ensemble was quieter in some parts, making it harder to hear. From an audience’s perspective, despite technical errors throughout the play, the cast still did a great job handling it and performing their best.
The music itself was also fantastic. The pit worked many hours to put on the production and brought the musical to life by playing live music for everyone to enjoy. “I think it is an amazing production, and this is the first time I’ve been to a high school play where they’ve incorporated in the orchestra,” an audience member commented. “It really just shows how exceptional the drama and musical, the fine arts program, are. They are so in sync, and I don’t think that many schools do that and so I’m really impressed, and the amount of dedication and time that these kids and directors have put into it is just phenomenal.” The music was definitely a highlight of this play. Everyone was happy to see the pit in the musical working so hard to bring this play to its best. One cello player in the pit said, “You have to stay there really late sometimes, and it’s tiring, but it’s fun.” It was clear how hard practice was and how committed these students were to trying something outside the box.
Even though it wasn’t perfect, it was clear that each singer was very passionate about their role, and the director did a great job casting the right people. It wasn’t the first choice among students and required a large amount of work for cast and pit members, but, in the end, A Christmas Story: The Musical was an overall success, with the result bringing laughter and joy to the audience.
