Casting TV's "A Christmas Story"
Casting TV's "A Christmas Story"
mikey2573
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/28/10
#1Casting TV's "A Christmas Story"
Posted: 6/25/17 at 6:52am
I would love to see Erin Dilly and John Bolton reprise their roles from the Broadway production, especially since Bolton has such a long history with the show. He was a part of it before Pasek and Paul.
I imagine they will go with a well known name for Miss Shields, though it is hard to think of someone who could belt "You'll Shoot Your Eye Out" and tackle that number's tap dancing. And I wonder how big Luke Spring is now. He would probably be around 15 which might make him too old for the Specialty Tap Boy role.
The two child leads are harder to guess, though I would think Hudson Leverro (currently playing Young Calogero in A Bronx Tale) would be up for the part of Ralphie as he played younger brother Randy at Papermill.
If Fox follows the way they cast GREASE they will stick to young, relatively new talent from TV, but the roles of the parents appear to be more middle aged. I can see them stunt casting the role of Santa (Alec Baldwin?), and Jean Shepard with well known names.
The creative team (director, choreographer) is harder to guess, though I think the originals (John Rando, Warren Carlysle) would be great as they know the show so well.
Really looking forward to this one. I hope they don't mess it up.
trpguyy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/25/05
#2Casting TV's
Posted: 6/25/17 at 10:05am
"I imagine they will go with a well known name for Miss Shields, though it is hard to think of someone who could belt "You'll Shoot Your Eye Out" and tackle that number's tap dancing"
Unfortunately you're probably right that they'll go for a name who probably won't do the part very well. I'd love to see Vicki Lewis in the role.
Back Row
Leading Actor Joined: 4/14/12
#3Casting TV's
Posted: 6/25/17 at 10:29am
This is a story that has never relied on star power to draw an audience, and I hope the producers acknowledge that and stick with John Bolton and Erin Dilly, who were terrific when I saw the show in Boston. There are certainly some bigger names who could fill the bill (Jason Alexander as the father or Tom Hanks as Jean Shepard come to mind), but I just think it is so unnecessary to go that route. Perhaps they will rely on the marketing clout from "Oscar and Tony winning composers Pasek & Paul" and leave it at that. I hope so. I really liked this show.
#4Casting TV's
Posted: 6/25/17 at 10:50am
They can use Rachel Bay Jones who played the mother in its pre Broadway tour. She has a growing fan base. I'm not sure if rehearsals for this will conflict with her time in DEH, though.
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Back Row
Leading Actor Joined: 4/14/12
#5Casting TV's
Posted: 6/25/17 at 11:02am
Call_me_jorge said: "They can use Rachel Bay Jones who played the mother in its pre Broadway tour. She has a growing fan base. I'm not sure if rehearsals for this will conflict with her time in DEH, though.
And come one to think of it, Will Roland looks a lot like Ralphie......
#6Casting TV's
Posted: 6/25/17 at 11:58am
I mentioned this earlier, but I thought Kristin Chenoweth would be absolutely fabulous as Miss Sheilds. She's got the comedic chops, the tap dancing skills, and could sing that part in her sleep. I think it would be a fun little featured part for her. I too would just love if they kept John Bolton and Erin Dilly around, but it's doubtful. Erin really made that show for me.
