Suwanee teen stars in 'A Christmas Story' musical on national tour
SUWANEE, Ga. - "A Christmas Story's" classic tale of Ralphie and his Red Rider BB gun is also a musical on tour across the county, and one of the stars is a 13-year-old from metro Atlanta.
Many families watch "A Christmas Story" every holiday season. That was the case for 13-year-old Carson Shelton's family.
"I was also like, oh another old Christmas movie from my parent's childhood," Shelton says.
The Christmas classic turned into his big break.
"I was taking classes with someone who was the casting director of ‘A Christmas Story’ and they were like, ‘Hey Carson, you should audition for this,’" he said.
So he did. Shortly afterward, he got the call that he would be on tour this winter.
"I play Schwartz, I'm the kid that's like, ‘I triple dog dare you!’ The bad influence type of kid, which is pretty fun because I consider myself a pretty nice person," Shelton said.
Soon this Suwanee teenager found himself moving up to New York City to start rehearsing for the role. He was also balancing being a typical 13-year-old.
"Going to school, rehearsing for six hours, it was a process. It was sometimes hard, but it was so much. But what made it fun is because the show is so good. And it was so great to do these big songs and these big numbers. And I loved doing it so much," he said.
Shelton says this is only the beginning.
"I love theater so much. I want to do it when I'm older. I want to be on Broadway one day. I want to do all this, I want to do more national tours, I hope there's many more for me in the future," he said.
The final leg of the tour is in Durham, North Carolina. It ends on Jan. 2.
Shelton says he'll be ready to be back home with his family and pets.