By Jeanni Ritchie
The classic holiday favorite A Christmas Story is getting the full Broadway treatment this season, and it’s coming to the Beau Rivage Theatre in Biloxi thanks to the magic of Jeb Rand Productions. Rand and his team started with thousands of online submissions before narrowing the field to 500 live callbacks. From there, the show was cast—including twelve young ensemble members chosen through open casting calls held around the country, including one at the venue itself.
“This is the original 2012 Broadway show,” says producer Jeb Rand, who’s staging A Christmas Story for the first time with his company, Rand Productions. “It’s very true to the movie—the frozen-tongue scene and all…”
With a thirty-member cast (the largest Rand Productions has ever had), this is a big show in every sense—heart, humor, and tap shoes included. The fan-favorite number “You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out” delivers a high-energy tap sequence. That was no problem for 11-year-old Anna Kramer.
“Anna’s a triple threat,” Rand says.
Kramer, a New Orleans sixth grader who has already performed in eighteen shows, began acting at eight years old. Her résumé includes leading roles as Annie and Junie B. Jones, Cinderella in Into the Woods, and young Cosette in Les Misérables. “This is my first professional show,” she says with an excitement only an eleven-year-old could bring.
Anna’s mom discovered the audition notice on social media, and after an initial callback and two intensive days of auditions, she found out she’d made the cut. “They called us into a room and told us congratulations, we were cast members!” she says. “I was so excited—I couldn’t stop smiling.”
When asked what number she’s most looking forward to, Anna names “Sticky Situation” and “When You’re a Wimp.” She’d previously done the show in local theatre and was familiar with the numbers. Rand added that his favorites are the show-stoppers “You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out” and “A Major Award.”
Rehearsals began November 17, with intense preparation before the show opens December 12. It runs through December 27, and is dark on Mondays. While some productions go dark on December 25, this one doesn’t—a fact I’m personally grateful for because I’ve decided to spend the day this year trading my own family Christmas chaos for Ralphie’s!
The holiday run of A Christmas Story isn’t all Rand Productions is staging. The company is touring its long-running original show Christmas in the Air, which plays the Golden Nugget in Lake Charles November 28–30. Next summer, Rand Productions returns to the Beau Rivage with Shrek The Musical.
Before wrapping our interview, I asked Jeb and Anna if they could remember ever wanting a Christmas gift as much as Ralphie wanted that Red Ryder BB gun. Anna laughed and said she really, really wants an iPhone but her mom says…”You’re too young,” we finished in tandem. Eyes wide at my correct prediction, I laughed. I speak fluent Mom-ese.
As for Jeb, he didn’t have to think long. “When I was Ralphie’s age, I wanted a monkey,” he said, explaining that his dad was the quarantine vet for the circus, so monkeys were always around. “Later, I actually got one. When I met my wife, I had my ice skates in one hand and the monkey in the other. She’s been with me ever since.”
I have no doubt Anna will get the shiny new iPhone eventually as well!
Treat yourself or buy the theatre lover in your life a special gift—a stay at the magically transformed winter wonderland at the Beau Rivage and tickets to the highly sought-after show—with one of their hotel + ticket packages. A Christmas Story is the perfect reminder that the magic of wanting—and the joy of believing—never really leaves us.
Jeanni Ritchie is a travel writer who finds no city’s visit is complete without at least one theatrical production! She can be reached at jeanniritchie54@gmail.com.
