The Polar Express Train Ride Seeks Santa for Live Theatrical Run at Southern California Railway Museum

Rail Events Productions and the Southern California Railway Museum are actively casting the Role of Santa for their upcoming live production of The Polar Express Train Ride, set to run from November 9 through December 31, 2026, aboard a real moving train in Perris, California. With casting underway now and rehearsals based out of La Mirada, this is the moment for performers with the right presence, warmth, and musical chops to get in front of the team before the role is filled.

The production is a fully staged, interactive theatrical adaptation of Chris Van Allsburg's beloved picture book and the 2004 Warner Bros. animated film of the same name. The story follows the Hero Child, a doubting young protagonist who boards a mysterious train bound for the North Pole on Christmas Eve. Over the course of an hour-long live performance featuring scripted scenes, live singing, dancing, and heavy audience participation, the Hero Child's journey culminates in a visit from Santa and his Elves, at which point the child receives the first gift of Christmas: a silver bell that only rings for those who truly believe. It is a production built on wonder, and the performer stepping into Santa's red coat will need to deliver that wonder convincingly to audiences of all ages, night after night, aboard a moving train.

Kasady Kwiatkowska is serving as both director and casting director for the production, which means the creative vision and the audition room belong to the same person. That kind of unified oversight often signals a tightly run audition process with a clear and consistent artistic point of view. Producer Bryce McWilliams rounds out the core creative leadership. Rail Events Productions is the producing entity behind The Polar Express Train Ride experience in several markets across the country, and this Southern California iteration represents one of the more logistically ambitious versions of the show given the scale of the SCRM facility and the multi-cast rotation structure the production employs.

Warner Bros. Entertainment is attached as a rights holder and production company, lending the production a significant layer of brand oversight and quality expectation. The Southern California Railway Museum itself is a co-producing partner, which makes sense given that the museum's historic rail infrastructure is the stage. Performing on a real, moving train is not a metaphor here. The train moves, the audience is on it, and the performers work the aisles, the cars, and the platforms as their stage. That is a unique and physically demanding performance environment that will factor into casting and rehearsal considerations from day one.

All performances take place at the Southern California Railway Museum in Perris, located in western Riverside County, roughly an hour southeast of Los Angeles. Rehearsals are held in La Mirada, in the northwestern corner of Orange County, which puts the production conveniently accessible to the broader Los Angeles and Orange County performer and crew pool. Anaheim is also listed as a production location, suggesting additional logistical or administrative operations may be based there. The three-city footprint across the Inland Empire and Orange County is manageable for local talent but worth factoring into scheduling and commute planning. Performers should be prepared for rehearsals in one city and performances in another.

The production operates on a rotating three-cast system, with a Red Cast, Green Cast, and Blue Cast sharing the performance schedule on a rotation, with two casts working any given show day. Each show day runs three to five rides, meaning this is a high-repetition, high-endurance performance situation. The Role of Santa is a principal role that appears at the climax of every ride, so whoever books this part will be performing the same emotionally resonant moment for multiple audiences in a single day. Stamina, consistency, and the ability to make the forty-seventh performance feel like the first are essential qualities here. The production runs through the end of December, covering the entirety of the holiday performance season, so this is a substantial seasonal engagement, not a short run.

For performers, agents, and anyone tracking holiday theatrical productions in Southern California, this listing is worth moving on quickly. The casting director is in the building and the production is staffing now, more than a year ahead of opening, which suggests the team is being thoughtful and deliberate about who they bring into this world. Full production details, contact information, and casting submission guidance are available in the complete listing on ProductionList.com. Check back regularly as the production moves deeper into pre-production and additional crew and cast roles are confirmed.

Click here for production info or to contact producers