A Christmas Story Live!

Two young boys fight in one scene; their peers cheer for the fight and cheer Ralphie at the end. A song repeatedly says that someone who won't fight a bully is a "wimp." There's talk (and song!) that Ralphie will "shoot your eye out" with a gun (which he eventually gets). Young viewers might be upset by a scene in which a boy licks a metal pole and gets stuck -- his tongue does appear to be realistically stuck, and the boy is pried forcibly off and thrown into the air, flips, and then lands with a woman's hand over his mouth, her red nails looking like blood.

Some of the talk about the "leg lamp" verges on the salty: "Fishnets? Aren't those for catching fish?" a young passerby wonders about the lamp. "They're for catching something," says his mom. Ralphie has a dream about his teacher that veers slightly sexual at the end, with the teacher writing on a desk suggestively. In one dance number, boys wear gangster suits while girls (who appear to be in the 10-12-year-old range) wear brief silver-spangled costumes.

"Smart ass" is repeated twice; there's a lot of made-up cursing, as when Ralphie curses (we hear "fudge"; he cops to saying "the f-space-space-space word"), or when Mr. Parker curses the neighbor's dogs or the furnace: "shut up, you goddingle dogs!" and "frazzle-dazzle furnace!" Ralphie's bully, Scut, calls him a "four-eyes" and commands him mockingly: "Cry!"

There are mild jokes about drinking, as when two men sing about their drinks getting "stronger" during the holidays.

Parents need to know that A Christmas Story Live! is based on the Broadway musical that was in turn based on the classic 1983 movie about a young boy who wants a BB gun for Christmas. The setting is still 1940s Indiana small-town, but the cast has more diversity than in the movie, with characters of color in strong roles, and a subplot about a Jewish family joyously celebrating Hanukkah (and teaching Ralphie about latkes and menorahs). Viewers can also note that this production does update the notorious Chinese restaurant scene from the original. The show's female characters, however, are still stuck in the 1940s, with moms staying at home and complaining about shopping, cooking, and housework, while dads talk about the office. Women and girls (who look to be 10-12) are also given brief costumes for fantasy dance sequences when the boys wear "gangster" suits. Ralphie's classmates sing about him being a "wimp" when he won't fight his (much bigger) bully; they cheer when Ralphie finally pins the bully down and punches him repeatedly in the face. A scene in which a boy gets his tongue "stuck" after licking a pole may be upsetting to young viewers; parents may wish to stress that the boy's tongue isn't really stuck, a vacuum is sucking it in gently. "Smart ass" is repeated twice, and there is made-up cursing ("you goddingle dogs!") and a subplot about a curse word that we hear as "fudge" but Ralphie assures us was really the "f-space-space-space" word.

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