The Guthrie

The summer before fifth grade, I decided to audition for A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie Theater. I went to the audition, and did rather well. I got called back, which was a good sign, however, I was still surprised when I actually got the part of Tiny Tim. It was a rather small role (I only had eight lines throughout the play), so it was easy for me to memorize my lines. I was onstage a lot, though, and it was an extremely good experience. It was a large cast (42 people) and there were twelve children. Everybody involved was extremely kind, which, in retrospect, isn't too surprising. There aren't any jerks in theater. They wouldn't survive. Actors spend several hours a day with each other, crowded in backstage, wearing sweaty costumes, for several months. Actors have to be able to get along with each other.
Later that year, I was in All My Sons. It was a smaller cast, and there were only two kids, and we had the same roll, alternating performances. I had more lines, but I wasn't onstage for very long.
The next year, I auditioned for Christmas Carol again, and got the part of Tiny Tim again. It was just as fun, except for the guy who played Scrooge. He kept (only half jokingly) complaining about how much I weighed, because he had to pick me up at the end of every show.