South Gwinnett News

Carson Shelton, an Atlanta-area 13-year-old, starred a musical tour throughout the U.S. that came to an end on Jan. 2, where he assumed the role of a character from the holiday classic, "A Christmas Story."

Shelton moved to New York for the role, Fox 5 Atlanta reported.

"I play Schwartz, I'm the kid that's like, 'I triple dog dare you!'" Shelton told Fox 5 Atlanta. "The bad influence type of kid, which is pretty fun because I consider myself a pretty nice person."

The 1983 film "A Christmas Story" topped the charts and was named the best Christmas movie of all time, Study Finds reported.

Shelton has dreams of starring on Broadway, Fox 5 Atlanta reported.

"I love theater so much," Shelton said. "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."

Shelton said he was encouraged by a director of the musical to audition for the part, Fox 5 Atlanta reported.

"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,'" Shelton said.

The final leg of the tour was in Durham, North Carolina, on Jan. 2, Fox 5 Atlanta reported. Although the teenager chased his dreams by moving to the East Coast for the role, Shelton looks forward to returning home and being back with his family and pets.

"Going to school, rehearsing for six hours, it was a process," Shelton said. "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."