The Sound of Mikey

100 Things About Me #178

I've dabbled in acting, but mostly I've been holding out for the really good roles.

The other day, I read a press release. A summer stock tour of "The Sound of Music" is coming through the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, as well as Tampa and Washington, D.C. Rehearsals are scheduled in New York.

Theater of the Stars will hold auditions for children and teens between the ages of 7-17 for The Sound of Music on Saturday, April 10 at 10:00 a.m. These auditions are for Actors’ Equity and non-Equity actors. ... We are looking for girls and boys who dance and sing well to be cast in the roles of the von Trapp Family Children.

This is it! My big chance and, most importantly, my dream come true! For many years, I've been telling ev'rybody I meet and bleat that one of my favorite things would be to play Gretl in "The Sound of Music."

Obviously, I was born to perform it, yet people usually respond along these lines, "You want to play Gretl? That's a six-year-old girl!"

"I believe she's more like four," I correct them. I'm the one up for the part.

"Mike! You are 10 times older than her!"

"I'd say 14 times, adjusting for me lying in my favor about my age."

"You are insane!"

"No, I'm not. I am an actor! It's what I do, act. And ingénue. I ingénue and pre-ingénue. It's the gift."

The Sound of Music (Two-Disc 40th Anniversary Special Edition)

The Sound of Music (1965 Film Soundtrack - 40th Anniversary Special Edition)

"You are too big!"

"Pish posh. Slap some Nazi Keds under my knees and I'm dancing and tugging hearts."

"Why? Tell me why do you want to do this."

"She gets all the 'ahhhs.' Say it with me, 'Ahhh.' Pretend you're the audience, 'Ahhhhh--'"

"You'll never pull it off!"

"You forget dimply. I'm luxuriously dimpled and I do adorable. If I need shave, I'll shave."

And that's where the gift usually has to find alternate transportation home.