There's a new breed of professional stage kid out there(thorn)poised and polished without being precious or pretentious(thorn)sired by a very different kind of stage parent. Goodbye, Mama Rose and her stereotypical ilk. The parents we interviewed are earthy and grounded, sacrificing and devoted, remaining adamant about their theatrical offspring having the freedom and opportunity to be regular kids.
Where Dreams Were Born
Barry Cavanagh, currently appearing as John in the national tour of "Peter Pan," starring Cathy Rigby, became a professional actor two years ago, at age 11. When he was eight, he convinced the director of a New Jersey community theatre production of "Joseph...Dreamcoat" to cast him, even though he was so much younger than the other kids in the production. Needless to say, Barry stole the show. Barry also appeared in "A Christmas Carol" at Madison Square Garden with Roger Daltrey, but "Peter Pan" is his first starring role. Before he "turned pro," Barry had never taken a lesson in acting, singing, or dancing, and got most of his basic training through the Rising Star program offered by Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, N.J. Nominated for Outstanding Child Actor for playing young Patrick Dennis in a local production of "Mame," Barry won a full scholarship to Paper Mill's five-week summer conservatory.
Elizabeth Lundberg, who turns 11 on April 5, and is now on Broadway as The Little Girl in "Ragtime," started in commercial theatre at the age of six, when she asked for singing and acting lessons. Like several of the kids we interviewed, she was taken to see theatre at a very young age. Her route to Broadway was via a manager who sent her to an agent, landing her an audition for "Les Mis rables." "I got very close the first time," she says, and ultimately won the role of Young Cosette on the national tour. "I never thought I'd be on Broadway," she says, glowing, then adds emphatically that she could not have attained her success without her agents, Ayn and Mayce at Schiffman, Ekman, Morrison, Marx, Inc. (S.E.M.M.) "They've really personalized the relationship," Elizabeth's mom, Laurene, remarks. "They'll have her sleep over at their houses, if necessary."
A little over two years ago, during a 30-hour power outage in his hometown in South Jersey, Anthony Blair Hall (now 11) passed the time singing while his sister played the piano. His mother, previously adamant that "no child of mine will be an actor," was so impressed that she arranged for Anthony to audition for the Philadelphia Boys' Choir. Anthony never took lessons, although he did engage a vocal teacher on occasion. His younger brother Dennis, is also pursuing a career on the stage. Both boys were in "A Christmas Carol" at Madison Square Garden two years ago, but Anthony insists that there is really no sibling rivalry. "I figure we're both talented(thorn)we just have different "looks'," he says with surprising maturity and perspective. Besides, he adds, they are very different vocally. "Mom says I have a "Frank Sinatra voice' and my brother has "an Elvis Presley voice'." Anthony, too, credits his agent (Carson-Adler Agency's Nancy Carson), with making everything possible. "I couldn't have done any of this without her."
Tracy Alison Walsh, (Brigitta in the current Broadway revival of "The Sound of Music") is an 11-year-old Armonk, N.Y. native, who attends the tony Rye Country Day School. She got her start in show business two years ago, when her enterprising 13-year-old brother sent a mass mailing to all the agents listed in the Ross Reports, telling them what a talent his kid sister was. She is, in fact, and landed the role of Brigitta at her first audition ever.
Nora Blackall, age 13-(thorn), started in "The Sound of Music" as an understudy, and eventually took over the role of Louisa. At the age of three, on the family piano Nora could pick out tunes from the "Phantom of the Opera" CD, playing them by ear. She then started to study dance, and during the summer following second grade, when she attended a performing arts summer camp near the family's home in Stonington, Conn., she became "hooked."
"The Sound of Music" 's Kurt, 12-year-old Marshall Pailet, a Potomac, Md., native, told Back Stage, "My parents told me I was born tap dancing," and admits to a fondness for Gene Kelly (as well as for Harrison Ford). Marshall and his younger brother Edward, staged plays for the family for fun when they "were very little," but Marshall began to "take performing seriously in second grade," when he starred in a community theatre production of "Oliver!"
Sixteen-year-old Craig Lawlor has played Adam Hughes on the CBS soap "As The World Turns," since April 1998. Although he was initially tagging along on an older sister's go-see, it was Craig who got a contract with the prestigious Wilhelmina agency, which eventually sent them to a commercial agency. Soon Craig was on Broadway in the National Actors Theatre production of "Inherit the Wind," followed by "The Who's Tommy." He eventually went out with "Tommy" 's first national tour. Craig commutes from suburban New Jersey with his mom, Gayle, who describes herself as an "R.N./S.M." (Registered Nurse/Stage Mother) to New York City to do his soap shoots. Depending on the storyline, he might tape two to three times a weeksometimes four. Gayle Lawlor has put her career in pediatric nursing on hold so that she can devote herself to her son's career.
"Nursing will be there when I get back to it. Helping Craig has to be a family effort," she avers.
Back Stage spoke to Brittany Snowcurrently Susan a/k/a Daisy Lemay on the CBS soap "Guiding Light"‹on her 13th birthday: "The big one-three," she told her mother. Brittany's career began a decade ago, but her parents wanted to be sure that performing professionally was their daughter's idea. Says Cinda Snow, Brittany's mom, "It really started when Brittany was six and said, "MomI want to be on TV!' "
"Every day I was someone else," admits Brittany, and Cinda acknowledges that the child went through a stage where she insisted, "I'm not Brittany‹I'm Cinderella."
"We've got to get that kid into acting!" thought her mom. Brittany's pre-soap experience was mostly in commercial and TV work in and around her home town of Tampa, Fla. She wanted to "try New York," but wasn't sure she could make it. They took the chance and flew to Manhattan. The Snows met a New York agent whom a Florida industry pro had recommended and‹one week later‹the agent sent Brittany a "GL" script. The child actress put herself on video and booked the job, appearing regularly on the soap since last Nov. 9.
Parental Sacrifices
For Gayle Lawlor, the nine months apart from her husband while she was on the road with Craig in "Tommy" was tough. "We had real high phone bills, but were able to put aside my Equity stipend [as Craig's guardian] to pay to bring the rest of the family out to where we were for weekends and holidays.
"You sort of get suspendedthere's really no time for yourself," says Nora's mother, Fox Blackall, an art teacher, who admits she has had little time to do anything else but chaperone her daughter.
Cinda Snow used to be with her daughter, Brittany, all the time. Now she and her husband have switched roles. Cinda is a sales coordinator for Prentice-Hall, maintaining a full-time job while her husband, an insurance salesman who took an early retirement in order to spend time with his daughter, chaperones her from Florida to New York and back. Cinda tries to come up to New York once a month to visit, but she doesn't see being a stage parent as a sacrifice, noting that her "hobby" is being with her daughter; she enjoys it more than anything else she could be doing. "God gave me a great gift in my little girl," she says proudly.
Marshall Pailet, who has been with "The Sound of Music" since it opened, is taken care of by various relatives who each come up to New York City to spend a week or two chaperoning him. His parents are both full-time attorneys in the Washington, D.C., area, and are unable to leave their jobs, so grandparents Louise and Ted Pailet (Ted is an attorney as well) come up from either Ft. Lauderdale or Nashville, depending on the season. Louise says, "You think it might be a sacrifice, but it's a joy. I'm thrilled that my daughter-in-law trusted us to do this." "It's just a pleasure all the way," adds her husband, beaming.
Besides Elizabeth, Laurene Lundberg and her husband have two other children: Diana 13, who dances, and Michael, eight, who is a hockey devot , so chaperoning her children to auditions, rehearsals, and practice sessions occupies all of Laurene's time. "I don't see how someone could hold down a job and do what I do," she says.
"Normal" Lives
The stage families we spoke with all agree that it's very important to remember that these young performers are still kids, and should be afforded every opportunity to indulge their non-theatrical interests.
At first, Marshall Pailet hated New York, but quickly grew to love the pace and the accessibility of things (most notably Starbuck's and the $3 movie theatre.) But he acknowledges that some of the kids back home "think if you're in theatre, you're a loser"and that he feels very comfortable now, among his peers at PPAS, the Professional Performing Arts School. He has mixed emotions about eventually returning home. "When I go back, it'll be heartbreaking, but I'll have a normal life."
Nancy Walsh, Tracy's mother, maintains two homes, and finds it a "logistical challenge" to carve out time to visit her son and her husband. "It's completely consuming," she says of her role as a stage mom. "But I've tried to keep Tracy's life very balanced, to keep her in the same schools."
Laurene Lundberg says that touring with her daughter in "Les Miz" was a terrific sight-seeing experience, but the family ended up losing money on the deal. In order to maintain some semblance of normal family life, Laurene would fly the rest of their New Jersey-based family out to join them. "My husband had to downgrade his [leased] car, by the time the tour ended," she says.
We spoke with the Snows on the day the family moved into a Manhattan pied-«-terre. They intend to maintain pretty permanent roots back in Tampa, so that Brittany can have a normal childhood with her old friends. However, she just accepted a one-year contract and needs to come up here every week, working seven or eight days a month, so her life still entails a pretty rough commute.
It was more important for Cheryl Cavanagh for her son to make his career decisions independently, and that he have a normal boyhood. "It's more important for me that Barry play Little League. He was also on three basketball teams. When he decided what he wanted, [a show biz career] then he gradually gave things up one at a time."
Craig Lawlor's friends think his career is really cool, but he tries to downplay it. "I talk about the usual things guys my age talk about...dirt bikes...chicks...excuse me‹ladies." The baby of the family, he's experienced no sibling rivalry with his brother and two older sisters. Gayle Lawlor commented on the subject of her 16-year-old son's dirt-biking hobby: "I'm a pediatric nurse," she jokes; she accepts it as a matter of course that kids will get themselves banged up in the normal activities of childhood. Then she adds, "Craig has a great deal of common sense; you have to give your kids the freedom they enjoy."
Juggling Scripts and Schoolbooks
Many of the actors we interviewed were exceptionally proud of their good grades‹a fact that doesn't surprise Fox Blackall, whose daughter Nora currently attends a home school. "These kids are so driven to succeed," Blackall observes. "Getting straight A's is a natural extension." All of the kids are quick to discuss how flexible and understanding their teachers are, whether in public, private, parochial, or professional schools. Craig Lawlor's school, for example, created a special study plan for him. His instructors even schedule time for the teen to enjoy normal extracurricular activities: He is currently starring as Sky Masterson in his suburban New Jersey high school production of "Guys and Dolls" (yes‹he actually had to audition for the role), and CBS actually agreed to arrange Craig's shooting schedule so that he could attend rehearsals and performances.
Brittany Snow is sent her work in folders ahead of time, then faxes it back or brings it to her teachers when she returns to Tampa. She finds juggling schoolwork and learning her scripts, which can sometimes entail memorizing 30-40 pages of dialogue overnight, "really tough, but I love everything."
Crafting Their Art
"Acting isn't really a job for me," says Craig Lawlor. "When I'm at home, I'm home. When I'm on the show, I'm on the show." His method of preparing for an audition depends on how long he's had the script. There might be the infrequent "panic-read in the car," but usually he has a couple of days or a week to prepare. Craig videotapes himself first, after reading a script once or twice. "Like a golf swing, when you tape it, you can see what you're doing wrong, what you want to switch and make better. Then he videotapes himself again, to "watch the bad one and then the good one and see how much you've improved."
Craig has studied acting and works with an acting coach for special projects. He admits there is "always trouble learning lines. With soaps, it's hard; you pick up a script Tuesday, have to learn 14 pages overnight, then do it 12 hours later, and if I don't know how to do a certain thing, I watch someone I admire and then try to do what they do," he says. Craig discussed some of the luminaries he's learned from on the job. On George C. Scott: "He's very natural but very angry, so that comes out in his scripts...but he's the most natural actor I've ever worked with‹he makes every line seem fresh every night."
Brittany Snow feels as close to her fictional family on "Guiding Light" as she does to her real family, and turns to them with questions about her script. "When I don't understand things, I ask Beth Ehlers" (who plays Harley Davidson Cooper Spaulding, Brittany's "mom" on the soap mom). Regarding learning lines (and she has an enormous amount of them), "I do it by myself; my dad helps, and the other actors go over and over it with me."
We discussed the subject of stage families versus real families with the three young performers in "The Sound of Music." Tracy Alison Walsh broke down in tears during the final curtain call taken by her "surrogate parents," Rebecca Luker and Dennis Parlato, after the two stars gave their final performance on March 7th. "I was so choked up, I had to take off my glasses," she recalls. Marshall Pailet says "I get into fights with the actor who plays Frederick, just like a real brother. "To a certain extent," corrects Nora Blackall, an only child in real life. The animated Walsh and Pailet finish each other's sentences. "We're the Jewish von Trapps," they proclaim, giving each other a high-five.
When asked about their "new" surrogate parents, Richard Chamberlain and 19-year-old Laura Benanti, the three "von Trapp" kinder gush enthusiastically. They are amazed at how Benanti seems like such a grownup when she's in character, but, Pailet points out, "She isn't even old enough to drink or gamble." "‹the important things in life," Blackall says under her breath, with a touch of irony.
On the Road Again: The Touring Experience:
What Barry Cavanagh likes about being on the road is that "you get to eat three times a day, sleep late; it's pretty relaxing," but he adds, " I miss my brother and my dog and my dad and my friends from school(thorn)sorta. However, within a day, you've got new friends and forge new relationships." His experience learning the show would daunt even the most seasoned veteran. The third actor to portray the role of John in "Peter Pan", Barry had to learn the show within a week from the dance captain.
Cheryl Cavanagh had to quit her job when Barry started working professionally, because there was no way to get him to his auditions and bookings. To supplement their income she's had to start working evenings as a waitress at banquets in New Jersey in order to have her days free to chaperone her older son. While she is on tour with Barry, Cheryl most misses her other son, 10-year-old Matt, who has no show-biz aspirations. Sibling rivalry? Readers may be pleased to hear that the Cavanagh household is quite "normal." Like many other families where there are two young boys three years apart, "The younger one is either his biggest fan, or they try to kill each other," says Cheryl bluntly.
Who's Minding the Store?
Patrick Cavanagh, Barry's dad, stays home in Bayonne, N.J., minding the family business, the eponymous pub that has been in the Cavanagh family for four generations. He can't wait for his family to return home, because at this point, he is unable to join them. "Right now, we're gearing up for the high holy days(thorn)St. Patrick's Day," he explains.
Being apart is tough. "My younger son, Matthew, has given up a lot of his time. He's younger and so he needs his mom more, but he gets schlepped around a lot." Also, Matt has to miss school when he goes to visit his older brother. The Cavanaghs were Grateful Dead fans, and regularly took their kids to theatre and concerts. "It's cheaper than a baby-sitter to take the kids to a show," comments Patrick, who hopes Barry never gives up show business.
When They Grow Up
What would Barry Cavanagh do if he couldn't act anymore? "Wow!" he says, pained to even contemplate the possibility. "I'd probably go back to playing basketball. I used to want to turn pro when I got older, but then I realized that I wasn't going to grow." Coming from a kid in "Peter Pan," the response has a certain charm. Barry does want to act professionally when he grows up. "This is our life," comments Cheryl Cavanagh, "but if Barry said, "I'm sick of this,' and once it's no longer fun, we don't do it."
Craig Lawlor emphatically states that he plans on "acting my entire life. I don't think I'll ever stop." His heroes? "I see myself as anything Mel Gibson does: He's an awesome actor who can handle funny acting stuff, and be a tough guy." Craig plans to attend college, and will study acting.
Cinda Snow says that they've always looked at Brittany's career as her "sport." "As long as she's enjoying it, we'll support her all the wayif she wants to do something else, that's fine. She's got two full-time jobs right now: being an actress and being a kid." Brittany wants to go to college and major in art and/or dramashe currently attends a special art high school. What if she couldn't act anymore? "Oh, my God, how can you ask me this!?" she exclaims. She intends to remain a professional actress, "even if I'm not as big as Gwyneth Paltrow," or to become either a singer-dancer, clothes designer, or write fiction(thorn)all of which she currently enjoys pursuing as avocations.
Elizabeth Lundberg "never wants to do anything but" act. Her dream roles include Mary in "The Secret Garden," and when she gets older(thorn)"Actually, I'd like to be Kim in "Miss Saigon,' but I know that's not happening," the petite brunette jokes, with all her savvy of Actors' Equity's politically correct casting caveats.
Anthony Blair Hall looks at his profession with detached objectivity. "Depending on how far I make it [in show business], I'll either continue to pursue acting, or if not, go into medicine or law." After "Ragtime," he'd like to go into movies, but coolly observes, "There's a slim chance I'll make it. There's much more competition for movies than for plays." A dream role, should he continue his stage career: the title role in "Oliver!"
Nora, Tracy, and Marshall are exceptionally astute kids: They all want to go on to college, and Marshall envisions a "part-time job as an architect." He's also very definitive on another point: "And I don't want to be Bar Mitzvahed!" Nora absolutely wants to continue to pursue acting professionally when she grows up, but also would like to be "on the side, "a makeup artist, a hairstylist, and an artist," because, "If I become famous, my art will be worth a lot more." Nora's mother, Fox, is an art teacher.
Tracy isn't entirely sure she wants to continue a performing career down the road. "I have a lot of time to think about that(thorn)I don't have to hurry up and make any decisions. I want to get a master's degree and be a businesswoman."
The Sound of Stardom
Many of these professional young performers dream of the role that will make them a Broadway celebrity. Rarely does the dream of the unknown understudy becomeing an overnight star actually come true, but such is the case with 19-year-old Laura Benanti now playing Maria in "The Sound of Music" opposite Richard Chamberlain. She made her Broadway debut as the understudy for Rebecca Luker, who originated the role in the current revival, then made the role her own on March 10. Benanti graduated in 1997 from high school in Kinnelon, N.J., then worked at Paper Mill Playhouse, playing Mary Rivers in "Jane Eyre" and Antonia in "Man of La Mancha." From there, it was straight to Broadway.
Her senior year of high school, Laura studied acting for six months in New York City with Michael Howard, but has no other professional training‹except for her glorious voice, courtesy of her mother, Linda Benanti, a professional vocal coach. Laura has "always known" that she wanted to be in the theatre, yet she's thankful that she did not take the path pursued by so many of her contemporaries. "My parents never let me be a child actor, which I am so grateful for!"
As a relative neophyte performing opposite Richard Chamberlain, a recognized star who still possesses matinee-idol looks, Benanti gushes, "How can you not be in love with him? He's quite possibly the kindest man I've ever met. Never for a second have I felt like a little kid." Speaking of which, Benanti is only two years older than Sara Zelle, who plays Liesl, the eldest von Trapp daughter. "We joke about that," she says. "But I think I was born 40. I'm an old soul. I never had any tolerance for kids my own age."
Benanti is asked about her Californian co-star, who opted to train in England after becoming a household name as "Dr. Kildare." She quickly points to her desire to follow Chamberlain's transatlantic lead as another point of commonality between them, despite the decades of difference in their ages. "I went to England my junior year in high school, and I felt like I had returned home. Maybe that's why I feel close to Richard."
Regarding life after "The Sound of Music," Benanti is currently involved in the workshop of "Time and Again," playing Julia in the musical based on Jack Finney's time-travel novel. She admits that she has trouble getting cast in contemporary pieces. "The biggest drawback for me is that I'm told I'm getting rejected for things because I don't look like I'm of this time period. When I was younger, I was convinced I was a medieval princess."
In Youth There Is Wisdom:
Everything doesn't always come up roses for these adolescent stars. Craig Lawlor admitted that getting up at 5 am isn't his favorite part of the business. "I'm sitting in traffic and thinking I could be home playing baseball...and then I think it's either sitting on a baseball diamond with cleats and dirt, or shaking Tony Randall's hand, or sitting down with George C Scott and talking about the universe. You've just got to put it in perspective. Just like any job, you may have good and bad days."
Yet, for these young pros, the pros far outweighed the cons when it came to the choices they had already made, and what they looked forward to in their respective futures. It could almost have been any one of them speaking Maria's words to the Mother Abbess, who early in "The Sound of Music" questions the young postulant's devotion to her calling: "Oh, no!" Maria exclaims. "This is what I want! This is my life!"
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