For the third date of Christmas, my true love gave to me… an official Red Ryder, carbine action, two hundred shot range model air rifle with a compass and this thing that tells time built RIGHT into the stock…
“You’ll shoot your eye out.”
For years of Christmas-es, Drew’s holiday reference has gone over my head.
A Christmas Story is Drew’s all-time favourite Christmas movie. Each year, he tries to get me to watch it. And each year, while I have the BEST intentions to finally settle in and watch the 1983 Christmas classic, I have yet to make it past the first 10 minutes.
Because I’m not that interested in seeing it, I always find a distraction. Work, my phone, cookie making… an unfair list of excuses for a man who has happily obliged my request to watch White Christmas and Elf on repeat each year for the past six Christmases.
So when we heard that Neptune Theatre’s holiday show was A Christmas Story this year, it HAD to be one of our 12 Dates of Christmas. I get live theatre, Drew gets his beloved Christmas classic, and because it’s live, I finally have no excuses or distractions to keep me from sharing in Drew’s holiday favourite.
The holiday show at Neptune always puts me in a Christmas spirit. I love seeing the theatre decked out for the season, and hearing Santa come over the loud speaker to introduce the show (and remind the audience that Neptune tickets are a great gift for those on the nice list).
For others out there like me who didn’t grow up watching A Christmas Story, don’t let the weird leg lamp and little kid with a fascination with BB guns fool you. It’s a quirky, funny, and highly relatable story about childhood, family, and ‘getting what you really want’.
This time last year, Drew and I headed to Neptune theatre with my mom, dad, sister, and Nan. I didn’t know it at the time, but it was the last time I’d get to share that experience with my Nan. In the year before her death, we saw a string of live theatre – Evangeline, Anne and Gilbert, Elf, A Christmas Carol.
My favourite part was always when the show ended, and nan would share her always infinite knowledge on the background of the story. I missed getting to hear her take on this show, and the post-show full-family discussion. My grandmother knew everything. She was a one-woman encyclopedia. Maybe as a reminder that she’d always be there with me, my nan’s sister Joy and her daughters just happened to be sitting in the seats next to ours. There really is something special about the holiday season.
Also, A Christmas Story is now firmly in our holiday story rotation.
Looking for local gift ideas? We’ve compiled more than 250 locally made gift ideas in the 2014 Local Wishlist.
Location:
Neptune Theatre
1593 Argyle Street
Halifax, Ns
Season: A Christmas Story runs until January 4th. The regular Neptune Theatre season runs September – May.
Website: http://www.neptunetheatre.com/
We reached out to Neptune Theatre because we were interested in including their seasonal show in our 12 Dates of Christmas round-up. They did not charge us for our tickets. Thanks to Neptune Theatre for making it possible to keep providing our readers with unique East Coast adventures.
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