A Christmas Story Live: Best & Worst Moments

BEST: BIGGEST SURPRISE

Yes, Chris Diamantopolous has been on Broadway numerous times, but some of us are uncultured swines who only know him from the small screen (Silicon Valley, Good Girls Revolt, etc.). So imagine our amazement when he opened his mouth... and a choir of tiny angels escaped.

WEIRDEST: WHATEVER THIS WAS

All that said, Ralphie's sexy daydream about his teacher took a really uncomfortable turn towards the end.

WEIRDEST: BUT WAIT!

How could Broderick play a narrator from the future and an assortment of characters in the present? Is this like how Bran can go back and manipulate the past on Game of Thrones? (Not for nothing, but Broderick was holding the door in the scene pictured here.)

BEST: DREAMY SEQUENCES

The lighting and filters applied to Ralphie's dream sequences were a nice touch. (30 Rock's Jenna Maroney would love the effect they put on Jane Krakowski in this one.)

WEIRDEST: THE MEH-EST SHOWMAN

Honestly, we didn't know what to make of Hugh Jackman & Co.'s live performance of "Come Alive" from The Greatest Showman. But everybody looked like they were having a lot of fun, which is always nice.

BEST: THIS. BOY. IS. ON. FII-IIRE.

Let's be honest: Child actors can be the worst — which is why we're thrilled to report that Andy Walken was the absolute best as Ralphie Parker. He didn't just keep up with the live production's break-neck pace, he set it.

BEST: NOW YOU SEE HIM...

Kudos to narrator Matthew Broderick, who never failed to appear here, there and every-damn-where throughout the production. A musical theatre ninja if ever there was one.

BEST: SMOOTH TRANSITIONS

This production was full of "OK, that was cool" moments, beginning with this first shot of the town, which effortlessly dropped us into the story.

BEST: LIVE FROM LOS ANGELES, IT'S SUNDAY NIGHT

Honestly, we'd watch SNL veterans Maya Rudolph and Ana Gasteyer take turns reading excerpts from the dictionary — as long as they did it together.

BEST: LIVE FROM LOS ANGELES, IT'S SUNDAY NIGHT

...OK, now this is just getting ridiculous.

BEST: LIVE FROM LOS ANGELES, IT'S SUNDAY NIGHT

But the SNL reunions didn't stop there, no sir. We were also treated to a commercial for Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon's ludicrous-looking upcoming Amazon special.

We leave you with this jarring image.

MERRY CHRISTMAS.

BEST: JANE KRAKOWSKI, IN GENERAL

While we're on the subject, doesn't Krakowski seem like she should always be draped in feathers? Like, 24/7?

BEST: SMARTEST REWRITE

The Parkers' Christmas dinner at a Chinese restaurant — infamous in the movie for being, you know, super racist — was given a much-needed edit in the stage version. ("That's not what I was expecting," Mr. Parker acknowledged here, to which Ken Jeong's character replied, "What were you expecting?")

BEST: ANA YASS-TEYER

Speaking of SNL vets, can we talk about those notes Gasteyer hit toward the end of "In the Market for a Miracle"?

WORST: NO STUDIO AUDIENCE

Isn't part of the thrill of doing live theatre having an actual audience in front of the performers? Not only was the silence deafening at times, but those show-stopping numbers deserved live applause.

WORST: FALSE START

Sorry to begin this gallery with a "Bah, humbug!" but Bebe Rexha's highly produced performance of "Count on Christmas" — a new holiday ditty by composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul — was kind of an awkward way to open the production, considering how different it was from... anything else in the show.