By Michle LaRue
How does becoming a professional actor affect the growth of a child? We asked three young performers--and three of their parents--to think back a few years and tell us what being in the business has meant for them. Even the youngest, nine-year-old Lexine Bondoc--like her cohorts Daisy Eagan and Eden Riegel--became an actress because she wanted to be one, and stays close to the theatre because she craves it. These parents respect their daughters' creative needs, care deeply about their welfare and development as individuals, and doubtlessly will encourage their show business careers as long as the girls themselves wish it.
Show biz runs in each of these families: Daisy Eagan's older sister, Molly, was studying dance when Daisy starred in Broadway's "The Secret Garden," and their father, Richard Eagan, is in theatre. Eden Riegel and her older brother, Sam, began their professional careers as Cosette and Gavroche in the third national touring company of "Les Misƒrables." And Lexine Bondoc's older brother Ryan was rehearsing a community theatre production of "The King and I" when the director spotted Lexine--age 1 1/2--with her mom. The playful toddler was so convincingly mimicking the children on stage that she was invited to join the cast. All she had to do was bow to the King, says mom Leila--and she got it right every time.
Now 18, Daisy Eagan played Broadway in "The Secret Garden" from age 11 to 12, leaving the show when her mother, Andrea Eagan, became critically ill. Daisy first performed professionally at age nine. She'd done plays in school and thought she'd like to try "a little part" somewhere else, recalls dad Richard, then a working actor. Seeing a casting notice in Back Stage, he took Daisy to "Tiny Tim's Christmas Carol" auditions, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Not only did she win the title role, but her father was asked to do Bob Cratchit. "It was a great, great thing for us," says Richard, who has since "gone back to my career as a painter" and does membership/development for New York Theatre Workshop. Daisy subsequently was cast in "Les Miz" and an HBO film. Seeing her in the former, Francis DelDuca, of Fifi Oscard Agency, Inc., took her on as a client. "Garden" followed.
Eden Riegel, who just turned 17, had been doing community theatre back home, in Arlington, Va., when "Les Miz" came to town. Theatre was, then and now, one of many activities for Eden--it just happened to be "the one I ended up liking the best." Cast "from a huge open call," Eden (seven) and Sam (11) toured to 26 cities, accompanied by their grandmother. After a year on the road, Eden played Young Cosette on Broadway for two more years, landing an agent along the way (Ayn Lauren at Schiffman, Ekman, Morrison, Marx, Inc.), and soon becoming a replacement in Broadway's "The Will Rogers Follies."
Lexine Bondoc, currently in the fourth grade, had just turned three when her uncle, dancer Max Luna III (of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater), suggested that she audition for Broadway's "Miss Saigon," "for the experience," recounts her mom. "The casting person said she was so smart but too young, and that they'd call back later. After so many months I forgot about it." But the callback did come, and at three years and nine months, Lexine joined the cast as Tam. She's been on "Sesame Street" since age four, and she played Princess Yaowlak in Broadway's "King and I" for a year and a half--until her part on TV job expanded and the dual roles became too much work. Lexine got "Sesame Street" through agent Marilyn Mills, who represented both Bondoc brothers when they were in the business. Lexine currently also freelances with J. Michael Bloom & Associates and Abrams Artists Agency, Inc.
SUB: Discipline and Tradition
Leila Bondoc has found the theatre to be "very good experience" for her daughter: "She's like an adult when you talk to her. I think she's learned to follow directions very well from being on stage and being focused, observes this mother of three--Lexine and the college-going Ryan and Eric. Lexine, too, thinks she's learned from acting. Being in shows has taught her how to meet new people--and meeting new people is one of her favorite things. "It's easier to get to know other kids from school; you get to know them better," she reports. Nor does she slight her studies. An honor student since first grade, she's learned, "that to get along with people, kids who are in school should always keep up with their schoolwork and study. School is important."
Serious adult actors know that getting a performance right requires self-, as well as group, discipline. Young cast members also learn this lesson early on. "Every kid who's in this business will tell you that you're expected to behave like an adult," declares Eden Riegel, "and are treated on the same level from the first day."
Daisy Eagan praises this discipline: "It seems to me that a lot of people my age tend to not really think of the consequences of their actions--typical teenage behavior in terms of drugs and rebellion and all of that. Being on stage from a very young age with people older than me and with that much responsibility, I think I really learned about knowing the consequences of my actions. I think because of my acting I was never one of those rebellious teenagers who ended up in rehab."
Eden Riegel is particularly fortunate in having had a exceptional mentor: nonagenarian Helen Hayes. Who better to teach a young actress, not only the etiquette, but the tradition of her craft? After sharing the stage at a benefit, "We forged a friendship," recounts Eden, who was nine when they met--the age at which Hayes had begun her own career. Over a period of three years, there were visits and correspondence--and a gift: the music box Hayes had planned to give the late Mary Martin. With it came a note, says Eden: "She thought that I could capture the spirit of Peter Pan, and that the ideas of Neverland and dreams always coming true could live on in me, and asked me to carry on that legacy."
Knowing Helen Hayes gave Eden "a real sense of perspective--about how serious acting is. It's fun, but I didn't really realize that it's an art form, that I could contribute to my art. She's one of the greatest influences in my life. Now I realize what I'm doing here. Even if I don't choose to pursue this when I grow up, it will always be a part of my life."
SUB: Auditions and Rejections
Asked what she's doing these days, Daisy self-effacingly replies, "Not much." But our subsequent conversation proves that she's done a great deal of observing, and thinking about, a life in the theatre. Soon after "Tiny Tim's Christmas Carol," Daisy auditioned for and won the role of Young Cosette, in "Les Miz." "That's when things really began in earnest," remembers Richard Eagan. "She had done such a tremendous job on Tiny Tim that it was clear she had a tremendous aptitude for this. It was not just 'cute kid syndrome.' "
"What was difficult for me in terms of auditioning and rejection," says Daisy now, "was that I started out at an early age and got the first thing I auditioned for, then got the second thing I auditioned for. After that it was a fast track to success, only stopping when I got to the top." A pause. "Then it started to thin out due to stuff that was going on in my life. I left 'The Secret Garden' because my mother was very sick with cancer. She died a year later. I think that in the past five years that angst came out in all of my auditions."
But her early years in the biz taught Daisy a lesson: "I think my being able to deal with a lot of rejection during the five years that I wasn't working steadily has a lot to do with the fact that I started acting so young," she says now. "I learned that it's not all about me and what I can do in terms of acting; it's about looks and age and a lot of that stuff.
"There have also been periods in this interim where I've wanted to stop acting because I get fed up with the superficiality of casting and the way that looks basically mean everything a lot of the time. You can walk into an audition and they'll have already made up their mind just by looking at you. I think I've learned to rise above that and break down the first impression they get when I walk in. I'm 5'1' and I do look young, so it would be easy for people to say, 'She's not tough enough for this role.' As soon as I sit down and read the sides, I let them see that I really can do it--be the tough little gangster girl or whatever it is--because I'm an actress."
"So many factors go into it," agrees Eden Riegel. "So little has to do with talent in the end. Once you realize that, you don't take it so personally anymore. It's not that they're rejecting you--just that you weren't right for that particular part. If you can't deal with rejection you can't survive in this business. It's important to learn about it when you're young so you can deal with it when you grow up." Lexine Bondoc enjoys the casting process. "If you don't get it," she pipes with breezy self-confidence, "it really doesn't matter because there will be other auditions."
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SUB: Cute Kids and the Millionaire
"Daisy's mom and I took a very careful look at where [Daisy's involvement in acting] might go, and we decided on several parameters to begin with," states Richard Eagan. "The most important thing would be school, home life, a sense of humor, and a normal childhood--in so far as we knew it would be altered by her theatre experience. Acting would come after that. We decided she was not going to go running around after commercials, television, sitcoms. There were many opportunities, but we felt that television, especially, ate children up and got rid of them when it was to television's advantage. For her general growth and development and overall being a person in the world, theatre was a great thing--and motion pictures not far behind. We were not going to disrupt ourselves in pursuing a cute-kid career."
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Eden's mom, Lenore, has also worked to keep show business in perspective: "Keep their other interests up until you see which ones the child will succeed at," she advises parents. "I've seen so many children who would have been a great success some place else, being disappointed in the theatre." Eden herself declares, "I wanted to keep all my options open, so whatever time I've spent doing show business, I've contributed an equal amount of time to academics, sports interests--ice skating, trick roping [thanks to "Will Rogers Follies"]--a social life, and personal interests--my journal, reading, correspondence."
Leila Bondoc stresses, "Try to keep a balance with school and social life. I always tell Lexine that school is important." When Lexine was performing in "Sesame Street" and "King and I" simultaneously, Leila urged her to go easy on herself and give one up. "Mommie, can I try it?" countered the seven-year-old. "If I get good grades, it won't be a problem." She did, and it wasn't--until "Sesame Street" gave her more shows. "If the child really shows interest in acting, the parent should encourage it--as long as the child is having fun," concludes Leila. "When it's not fun anymore," the acting should stop.
The impetus to act "has to come from the child," declares Lenore Riegel. "Lots of times there's an undercurrent of, 'My mom would be very happy if I did this part.' That wouldn't be the case," she believes, if other options were explored as well.
"I think a lot of parents live out, in ways not even stated or recognized, fantasies of their own through their children," cautions Robert Eagan. "They forget that they're not doing this themselves. We've seen many upsetting examples of stage parent behavior that made us really really cringe."
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"Do you know the story about the millionaire who was asked to share his secret?" queries Lenore. "He replied that it was something his father said: 'Son, here's a million dollars. Don't lose it.' You're given these incredibly creative, special children," she continues. "It's the parents' job not to lose it. It is also the parents' job to see that a child has the constitution, ability, and heart to take the huge disappointments and still have a good feeling about himself. It's different at eight and at 12 and at 16--you have to make the same decision over and over again as you go along. The child has to love it and be great at it."
SUB: Siblings and Spouses
Obviously this job is a major commitment. When Lexine Bondoc sprightly warns parents, "You have to bring the kids to auditions, and if the kids do Broadway shows and TV shows and stuff like that, you have to find a way to get the kids to the place on time"--she only begins to suggest the day-to-day and long-range logistical problems. Eden and Sam Riegel's grandmother, artist Iris Engelmann, left her husband at home to chaperon the children on the road--for a year. Lenore Riegel gave up her business--administering child-care centers--to manage her children's careers; so did Leila Bondoc, who worked in the family-owned video store before Lexine became an actress. (Husband Pete is a banker.)
And when the welfare of more than one child is involved--as is true for all of these families--choices can become painfully complex. Daisy Eagan's older sister, Molly, now 25, was seriously pursuing dance at LaGuardia High School when Daisy was doing "Secret Garden." Discouraged by insensitive teachers, Molly saw her own dreams of a career disintegrate--"just as Daisy was taking off," remembers Richard. "We had to be sensitive to Molly's needs, too." (Today Molly is a professional writer.)
Spouses, too, can suffer in this business. Many young performers' families are divided, like Eden's: She and her mom are in New York; her dad, Kurt is back "home" in Virginia, where he's a scientist at the Pentagon. When Lenore and the kids first came to work in New York, Kurt joined them every other week for four-day weekends. These days, Sam studies at the University of Virginia, and continues to sing professionally. Kurt's visits to Manhattan have measurably decreased. "The more success, the harder it's going to be to keep your family intact," cautions Lenore. "It's kind of rough," admits Eden, who, for her part, still "wouldn't have given it up for anything."
So, what are the rewards? A lot of self-confidence, Lenore replies. "People think that kids in show business get success too early. It's just the opposite: They learn to deal with frustrations and failure. You have to have a firm idea of what you want and who you are. Eden considers an audition a success when she's done what she wanted to do--not when she's gotten a part." People also say that teens didn't get to play as children, adds Lenore. "Oh, yes, they did," she counters--"on a big stage with lots of other people!"
"Most of us enjoy our childhoods because we don't know any different," she continues. Film and theatre allow you to live your lives as other people. My children had a chance to be respected as artists and professionals, not just as children."
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SUB: Present and Future
"I know that I really want to get back into the business," says Daisy Eagan, who left high school early to attend Simon's Rock College of Bard, Mass., for her freshman year. She's now taking some time off. "I've done a couple of things since 'Secret Garden,' " she reports. "My heart really belongs in the theatre. I like doing films because of the exposure, but theatre is really where I'm in my element. Right now I'm going to continue auditioning and see what happens."
Interested in writing and literature, at Bard she studied English, thinking she "would be embracing everything. Now I'm thinking that a theatre school would be pretty easy--you don't have to take any math tests, thank God. Besides, it's easy enough to get by on your charm and cuteness when you're little. But you hit a certain age when it's not cute any more. You really have to have the skills that it takes to do this. I have a lot of those skills and I have talent, but there are a lot of things I need to learn and to brush up on and understand to be a really good actor."
Lexine Bondoc, nine years Daisy's junior, wants to continue acting, too. True to her age, her reasons are simple and spontaneous: "I get to meet new people. I like acting with other people and I like letting the audience appreciate what I'm doing and them clapping. I like pretending. And I like my outfits."
Eden Riegel plans on college, and finds her brother, Sam, an encouraging role model. It's good to see that he's made "that very difficult transition from childhood to adulthood," she explains. "Some people don't make it. It's something you have to face. I have more responsibility. I have to make my own decisions, earn my own income--to pay for pictures, skating lessons--so I can stay up here, in New York."
She's now assistant stage-managing an Off-Broadway show for Broadway Kids, a group of young professionals that she's performed with since she was 11. Her added responsibilities here are: "running rehearsals, giving notes, [handling] payroll duties, making sure everybody's there on time--and doing the laundry. The kids that I'm working with have known me for so many years. When I give them suggestions or a note, they know where it's coming from; they respect it. I've kind of wanted to become a role model. I'd like them to go to college--to know that, even though it's difficult around the transition area, they can make it through."
Looking ahead, Eden observes, "Show business has been a major part of my life. It will always contribute to whatever I try to do in the future." For now, she just wants to go away to college, "spend four years discovering myself--and, like every teenage girl, grow up and write a script as good as 'Good Will Hunting' and marry Leonardo DiCaprio or Matt Damon."
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