While it pains me to talk Christmas in the middle of November, the timing can’t be avoided on this one. A Christmas Story, The Musical opened today on Broadway. While it’s standard procedure for publicists to tout the latest product of the Hollywood-to-Broadway pipeline as “based on a beloved classic”, in this case, I find myself in agreement.

Yes, I’m going to trot out the “before it was cool” thing. I saw the film at age 8, something the weak box office receipts of the original run suggest can’t be a boast made by many. (Though I’m not sure I’d want to waste my boasts on that.) Mostly panned by critics, it limped through the holiday season before disappearing. But not for good.

As Turner likes to remind you, A Christmas Story is a big thing now. That seems to be the result of that rare phenomenon: “it was shown on TV, a lot.” I still doze off to the marathon most Christmas Eves.

Now, it’s big enough for a new musical adaptation that’s running through the holidays at Broadway’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. While I’ve only been reading up on it, it appears to cover all the highlights: poles, lamps, bunny suits, hungry dogs, and more.

One does not need to be the beneficiary of a major award to check out the show, no matter how fragile. Check our listings for A Christmas Story, The Musical and see how well Ralphie can sing in that pink nightmare.

If you happen to want to catch the Broadway show based on the music of Green Day this week, you’ll have the special bonus of Green Day front man Billie Joe Armstrong playing one of the characters. Armstrong is filling in for Tony Vincent in the role of “Jimmy,” the self-destructive alter ego of the musical’s protagonist Johnny. While Jimmy isn’t the main character, he’s got a few songs over the course of the musical, and most reports from Armstrong’s first night are highly favorable.

American Idiot is based on the Green Day album of the same name, includes songs from both that album, 21st Century Breakdown, and originals to tell the story of Johnny and two friends growing up with war, drugs, love, loss… you know, the usual stuff. Currently playing at the St. James Theatre, you can pick up tickets on the American Idiot Tickets page. Armstrong will be doing only 8 shows, so time is running out to catch the performance.

While Jerry Seinfeld is headed to Broadway to direct, Ben Stiller is returning to a play that afforded him his stage debut. In 1986, Stiller played the son of the main character in a Broadway revival of the play The House of Blue Leaves. He will now play the father in the latest revival, opposite another Hollywood star, Edie Falco, recently of Sopranos and Nurse Betty.

The play is set in Queens, New York in 1965 while the Pope is visiting New York City. Artie Shaughnessy (Stiller) is a zookeeper with dreams of becoming a songwriter in Hollywood. Artie’s middle class existence conspires to derail these dreams, with a schizophrenic wife named Bananas (Falco) whom he plans to dump in a mental institution called The House of Blue Leaves as he runs off to Hollywood with his downstairs neighbor, Bunny. Apparently there are some nuns involved as well.

The 86 revival won 4 Tony Awards, including direction and one each for the two leads, John Mahoney and Swoosie Kurtz. It was also nominated for the best play award.

The 2011 revival will be directed by David Cromer and produced by Scott Rudin, and will play the Walter Kerr Theatre next spring. Little soon for ticket listings, but they’ll show up on our House of Blue Leaves Tickets page soon enough.