Earlier this year I found myself in Cleveland, Ohio. While there were a number of (arguably) more obvious things to capture here, a long standing love of this movie meant I had to see the house from the 1983 holiday classic, A Christmas Story in person. With the iconic leg lamp in the front window and the Bumpus House next door, the house from A Christmas Story has since been transformed into a year round museum dedicated to the movie. Complete with a tour and a gift shop across the street, you can even pay to spend the night in the Bumpus House (and thankfully, unlike in the movie, you can avoid the dogs). Naturally, there is some trickery going on here. During production the house was used for exteriors, but as is often the case, was not actually where the interior scenes were filmed. A Christmas Story is also set in Indiana, but was filmed in Cleveland and Toronto. Regardless, the house has been beautifully restored and turned into a really unique Christmas landmark. For fans of this classic or movie locations in general, the house from A Christmas Story is definitely worth a look the next time you're in Cleveland, Ohio.
While theatre isn't usually something I'm keen about, while shooting in New York City this month I felt a certain responsibility (because hey, it's NYC) to see something on Broadway. At worst it would at least be an experience I thought, but actually it ended up being a great surprise. As a Canadian kid of the '90s, Alanis Morissette's 1995 album Jagged Little Pill was already something that I could've recited lyrics from whether I liked it or not. And given my choice to see this new Broadway musical, which just had its opening night on December 5, I knew with some certainty that I'd likely enjoy Jagged Little Pill because of the music that had inspired it. What I didn't expect was a musical that could weave an original story through the tracks of this album in a way that didn't just feel like a random hits medley. Sure, it was angsty and preachy at points - but then again so is the album. I was thoroughly impressed, and really enjoyed the reinterpretation of some of these classic tracks (and their relevance) nearly 25 years later. I'll leave the proper reviews to the critics and just say that I really enjoyed the experience - particularly the excitement you could sense in the audience with this still being such a new show. The standout moment was undoubtedly Lauren Patten's rendition of 'You Oughta Know', which brought everyone in the theatre to their feet. I also loved the conclusion featuring 'You Learn'. From a guy who had never been to a Broadway show before this, I've got to say that seeing Jagged Little Pill at the Broadhurst Theatre was a good time. Worth it in my books!
With the iconic leg lamp in the front window and the Bumpus House next door, the house from A Christmas Story has since been transformed into a year round museum dedicated to the movie. Complete with a tour and a gift shop across the street, you can even pay to spend the night in the Bumpus House (and thankfully, unlike in the movie, you can avoid the dogs).
