Tim Mackabee walked into the O’Reilly Theater in Downtown Pittsburgh and sat in the front row.
The New York-based set designer looked at the space in front of him trying to envision a creative way to bring the show made for the screen, “A Christmas Story,” to life on the stage.
“My first thought was, how are we going to fit everything from the film into that one small theater?” said Mackabee, of Pittsburgh Public Theater’s stage version of “A Christmas Story: The Play.” “It was tricky, and it was a challenge, but we did it.”
He found a way to preserve the nostalgia and iconic scenes of the 40-year-old holiday classic in a 40-foot-wide space. The first task was to meet with director Michael Berresse and make a list of must-have of props and set pieces.
Courtesy of Michael Henninger for Pittsburgh Public Theater
Pittsburgh Public Theater’s staging of “A Christmas Story: The Play” at the O’Reilly Theater includes the iconic scene of Flick’s tongue stuck to a frozen flagpole.
Everything was designed and crafted by in-house carpenters, which included storage boxes so the pieces can be contained and used again.
This is the second year of the on-stage production, and most of what was created last year is being utilized this year. A few of the pieces have been altered or re-configured based on what they learned worked and didn’t work from last year’s performances.
“When you do something like this that is different, you still have to preserve the nostalgia of the show,” Mackabee said. “There just are certain things you have to have because most people have seen ‘A Christmas Story.’”
Guests want to see Ralphie Parker and company come to life on stage from disastrous family meals and sticky situations in the schoolyard to fateful and funny visits to Santaland and the Red Ryder BB gun.
The set wouldn’t be complete without the leg lamp.
Courtesy of Michael Henninger for Pittsburgh Public Theater
Tim McGeever and Jamie C. Agnello star in Pittsburgh Public Theater’s production of “A Chrismas Story: The Play” at the O’Reilly Theater. Many of the set pieces, including the box containing a “major award,” were made in-house by the theater’s carpenters.
Designing the crate for the leg lamp proved to be the hardest part of the design, Mackabee said. It required multiple tries to get it right, he said.
The prop is 7-feet long and needed to be able to be moved on and off the stage easily.
“We built that crate 17 times,” Mackabee said. “It had to be big enough, but it also had to be able to be mobile.”
The kitchen, where a lot of the show takes place, reflects that of the movie — even though the movie doesn’t really represent the late 1930s, Mackabee said.
But that is what people remember from the film, so he made the play version close to the movie’s version.
He said he had some leeway with the mall visit scene.
When people come to the theater they are expecting to see what they remember from the movie, said John Shepard of Forest Hills, who plays an adult Ralphie Parker, which is a character the Pittsburgh Public Theater added to its version of the show.
“There are a lot of scenes that are similar to the movie,” Shepard said. “Our director did a great job of unearthing the humor and maintaining the nostalgia of the movie in this play. People will recognize key scenes, but they will also see something new.”
Courtesy of Michael Henninger for Pittsburgh Public Theater
John Shepard of Forest Hills plays the adult Ralphie in “A Christmas Story: The Play.”
Creating the balance of old and new with the set was Mackabee’s job. The Baltimore native has designed sets all over the country, beginning with a hand sketch. The process took more than six weeks from design to finish. The cost of the project was not released.
“We needed to make sure we kept the gimmicks and tricks. You have to check certain boxes for the audience and also give them something different,” said Mackabee, who has been doing set design for more than two decades.“Sometimes you had to take bold steps and try something new. The first time you do anything it’s like a shot in the dark.”
“A Christmas Story: The Play” runs through Dec. 23 at the O’Reilly Theater, Downtown. Tickets are available online at ppt.org.
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact JoAnne by email at jharrop@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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