The narrator’s role in the musical is more pronounced than in the film. But added in are songs from Pasek and Paul - the award-winning duo behind “Dear Evan Hansen” and “La La Land.” The Tony-nominated musical brings the classic scenes to life - Flick’s tongue getting stuck to the flagpole, the Old Man’s prized leg lamp and Ralphie’s pink bunny suit are all there. Since 2014, Carsten has played narrator Jean Shepherd in the musical production of “A Christmas Story,” which runs at the Eccles Theater Dec. “I never dreamed in a million years that I would play that part later on.” “I loved not only the way he put words together, but the energy of his voice really kind of stuck with me,” Carsten told the Deseret News.

“Ah, life is like that,” says narrator Jean Shepherd, whose semi-autobiographical short stories inspired “A Christmas Story.” “Sometimes at the height of our revelries, when our joy is at its zenith, when all is most right with the world, the most unthinkable disasters descend upon us.”įor Carsten, Shepherd’s comic narration - which went on to influence “ The Wonder Years” - was the star of “A Christmas Story.” Enter the cursed Bumpus hounds from next door, who run through the home and shred the turkey to pieces. Or the scene near the end of the movie when Ralphie’s Old Man is sitting in his chair, reading the newspaper and eagerly anticipating the Christmas turkey dinner to come. “My kid brother looked like a tick about to pop.” But for Carsten, it was the narrator who really drove the hilarious moment home. In the scene where Ralphie’s younger brother, Randy, gets stuffed into winter clothing that seems to swallow and practically suffocate him, Randy is so puffy that he can’t even keep his arms down by his side. That’s once every 3 minutes and 20 seconds, according to Mental Floss.īut it wasn’t Ralphie’s quest for the beloved BB gun that stuck out to Chris Carsten when he first watched the movie. That’s how many times Ralphie says he wants the Red Ryder BB gun in the movie “A Christmas Story.”

Jean shepherd in a christmas story