Theater

‘A Christmas Story — The Musical’ works its magic

The cavernous Theater at Madison Square Garden — a soulless hangar with awful acoustics — is a terrible place to see a show.

And yet “A Christmas Story — The Musical” still works its magic there. That alone says a lot about how good it is. And while it would have been better to see the show on Broadway, where it opened last year, at least it’s back somewhere in the city, giving families a non-sappy option for holiday entertainment.

The musical is a faithful adaptation of the cult 1983 movie, which follows the campaign of 9-year-old Ralphie (Jake Lucas) to land a Red Ryder Carbine Action BB gun for Christmas.

That’s a highly coveted item in 1940 Indiana, but Mom (Erin Dilly) isn’t crazy about the idea. As she — and nearly every other adult — puts it: “You’ll shoot your eye out.”

That’s one of the many classic lines and scenes to have smoothly transferred from page to screen to stage, along with Ralphie’s friend Flick (Michael Crispi) getting his tongue stuck to an icy flagpole and our hero’s Old Man (John Bolton) winning a leg-shaped lamp in a contest.

“Fra–gee–lay,” he says, misreading the “Fragile” label on the box. “It must be Italian.”

The musical works so well because creators Joseph Robinette (book), Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (score) remained true to the story’s goofy, boisterous spirit.

As in the movie, there’s refreshingly little saccharine here. And the new fantasy numbers added for the stage fit perfectly with the more familiar elements. In one, our hero imagines he’s an Old West gunslinger (“Ralphie to the Rescue”); in another we’re transported to a 1930s speakeasy (“You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out”).

It’s all held together by John Rando’s zippy direction and the terrific cast, which has returned pretty much intact.

The biggest change is Lucas, who’s very good, especially considering how much Ralphie has to carry. He just might be a shade Harry Potter-ish, lacking the naughty edge that Johnny Rabe brought to it last year.

All the other principals are back in fine form, including Dan Lauria as narrator Jean Shepherd. Bolton has refined his portrayal of the Old Man into a masterpiece of demented physical comedy, and it’s great to see that young tap prodigy Luke Spring — who brings down the house in a 1930s number — hasn’t outgrown his part.

At this point, it seems that “A Christmas Story — the Musical” is well on its way to becoming a holiday classic.

You might even say it has a leg up on the competition.