Karen Mason Joins A CHRISTMAS STORY Tour; Full Cast Announced!

The producers of A Christmas Story, The Musical! have announced complete casting for the 2011 holiday season tour. Broadway favorite Karen Mason (Wonderland, Mamma Mia!, Sunset Boulevard) will play school teacher Miss Shields in an ensemble that includes John Francis Babbo, Jonathan Burke, Andrew Cristi, Sally Elting, Nick Gaswirth, Nicholas Gonzales, Casey Gorab, Drea Gordon, Leslie Henstock, Carl Kimbrough, Sean McKnight, Mara Newbery, Lyn Philistine, Charlie Plummer, Alex Puette, Johnny Rabe, Kayla Rea, Emily Rudolph, Jake Bennett Siegfried, Marguerite Willbanks, George Andrew Wolff, Kirsten Wyatt and Adam Pelty (The Scarlet Pimpernel, Steel Pier) will play Santa.

Previously, producers announced initial casting: Clarke Hallum and John Bolton (Spamalot, Contact, Titanic) reprise their acclaimed performances as Ralphie and The Old Man from the 2010 Seattle production of A Christmas Story, The Musical!. Matthew Lewis also returns as little brother Randy. New to the production are Gene Weygandt (Wicked, Big) as Jean Shepherd and Rachel Bay Jones (Women on The Verge..., Hair) as The Mother.

"We are thrilled to have assembled such an incredible company for A Christmas Story, The Musical!," says director John Rando. "We have an ensemble of 29 that hail from Chicago, New York, Seattle and beyond. We are all very excited to dive into rehearsals in Chicago this week before launching our tour in November."

A Christmas Story, The Musical! will launch a five-city National Tour for the 2011 holiday season with engagements in Hershey, PA (Hershey Theatre, Nov. 8 - 13); Detroit, MI (Fisher Theatre, Nov. 15 - 27); Raleigh, NC (Memorial Auditorium, Nov. 29 - Dec. 4); Tampa, FL, (Straz Center, Dec. 6 -11); and Chicago, IL (Chicago Theatre, Dec. 14 - 30).

For more information, visit www.AChristmasStoryTheMusical.com.