‘A Christmas Story: The Musical’ at Benedum; Kinetic Staging ‘Three Days in the Country’ (Fri., 11/25/16)

Cast members of ‘A Christmas Story: The Musical’ demonstrate their strategic intent to put the ‘Merry’ in ‘Merry Christmas.’

1) We’re all familiar with what the Thanksgiving holiday means. Family gatherings, food, football … and the full-bore, comin’-at-you kickoff of the Christmas season. Those who desire a more pleasant experience than Black Friday shopping may wish to take the family to the touring production of A Christmas Story: The Musical. Based on the 1983 movie, which was based on stories by storyteller/writer Jean Shepherd—hey, after thousands of years of recorded human history, it’s getting hard to come up with new plots, so no complaints about adaptations, please!—based on the movie A Christmas Story, this musical relates the humorous and heartwarming tale of a little boy in 1940s Indiana who wants a BB gun for Christmas. Indiana in the 1940s? You’d have to do a lot of shopping to find anything that’s more vintage Americana. 8 p.m. Ends Sunday. Benedum Center, 237 7^th Ave., Cultural District. (MV)

2) Some of the hardest-core literature fans are the people who get deeply into reading “the Russians,” i.e. the great Russian novelists of the 1800s and early 1900s. If you are such a fan you know Ivan Turgenev as the author of the stunning 1862 novel Fathers and Sons. Turgenev’s plays are much less known, though one has endured: his comedy A Month in the Country. It’s the story of a woman who is bored with her marriage and struggles to keep a passionate suitor at arm’s length while scheming to snare a handsome younger man. A Month in the Country was banned in Russia for years as being entirely too naughty. We don’t sweat that stuff any more, and Pittsburgh’s Kinetic Theatre is presenting a modern adaptation by the English playwright Patrick Marber. This version is called Three Days in the Country—a faster title for faster times—but do not fear that Marber has turned Turgenev’s piece into a riff on Internet-based speed dating; the 1800s setting and flavor are preserved. 8 p.m. Continues through December 4. At the New Hazlett Theater, 6 Allegheny Square East, North Side. (MV)

3) Good Fridays at the Warhol is a weekly party at the museum, featuring art exhibits, music, and cocktails in the high temple to Andy Warhol’s numerous talents. Half-price museum admission. 5 – 10 p.m. 117 Sandusky St., North Shore.

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