Yes, in Pioneer Theatre Company's version of "A Christmas Story," theatergoers will see the "fragile" leg lamp, the pink bunny suit, and a boy's tongue stuck on a flagpole after a triple-dog dare.

All these iconic props and moments are included in this retelling of the modern classic -- which has become such a familiar holiday story it's a rarity to find anyone who hasn't heard the plight of young Ralphie and his Christmas wish.

Guest director Paul Barnes returns to PTC to take on the regional premiere of the stage version, which revolves around Ralphie's much-desired Red Ryder 200-Shot Carbine Action Range Model Air Rifle in this nostalgic story set in 1938. "The play really sticks to the story and essence of the material," Barnes said. "I've been a fan of the film since I first discovered it on TV 15 years ago."

Once he was hired to direct the stage show, Barnes decided to not watch the movie again, in an effort to avoid re-creating it.

In rehearsals, Barnes and cast members have discovered the challenges of taking the story from the screen to the stage. In the movie, locations change frequently, which can be more easily filmed, thanks to the cinematic magic of cutting and editing.

For the theater version, PTC designer George Maxwell created versatile sets that can suggest various locations -- from a classroom to a city street -- while making the comedy's action run smoothly.

The stage show also fleshes out a couple of minor characters in the film, including Esther Jane, who has a crush on Ralphie. Ally Ioannides, 11, of Park City, plays the sweet schoolgirl. She prefers the stage version of the story, not only because of her character's role, but because she thinks it's funnier.

"If you've seen the movie, just imagine it 10 times better and that's the show," she said.

Ally was among 30 young actors from the area called back to audition with Barnes. She and friend Mason Johnson, playing Ralphie, are two of the seven children in the cast.

The two met in third grade and have been friends since. "You think it'd be kind of easier because I've been around him and stuff," Ally said of being in love with her friend in the play. "But it makes it a little bit harder because I've always thought of him as my friend and nothing more."

Mason, 11, agreed, saying: "It's bearable because we're both actors." He added: I'm telling you, she does not have a crush on me in real life. It's actually kind of funny."

Among the adult member of the cast, one familiar face to Utah audiences might be Las Vegas-based actor Don Burroughs, who plays Ralphie's dad, referred to as The Old Man. Burroughs most recently played Oberon and Theseus in PTC's 2008 production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," also directed by Barnes. Last summer, he played Elyot opposite his wife, Carol Linnea Johnson, in Noel Coward's "Private Lives" at the Utah Shakespearean Festival.

Burroughs considers himself a younger version of the film's old man, describing the character as a practical guy, trying to hold onto what's important. "He's a kid at heart," Burroughs said. "The mother has three children in the home, and the biggest one is her husband, which is why I think Paul [Barnes] hired me. He often makes that comment about me."

The director and the actors understand that audience members will have expectations when they come to the theater to see a story familiar from the movie. It's the challenge of stage acting in this play to make the simple scenes of family life come alive, while those moments underscore and deepen the narrator's version of the story, Burroughs said.

The play explores the universal theme of family love during the holidays, and it's told in a way that accepts the characters' quirkiness and eccentricities. "It allows people to be off-center but never in a dangerous way, [but] in a way in we can embrace," the director said.

roxellana@sltrib.com