Twelve-year-old Spencer Milford has had a couple near-misses
this year in efforts to earn roles in two prominent Broadway
shows.
Spencer
Milford |
After two callbacks, Spencer was the final boy cut for
the role of Michael in the upcoming musical, "Billy Elliot."
That show is scheduled to open in September.
Then, he was one of eight boys left in auditions for two
boy roles in "Mary Poppins." That long-running Broadway
show is recasting roles as some of the original cast move
on.
Spencer was in New York during the first weekend in March
to audition for that part. Then, at the end of March, he
got notice that he also narrowly missed getting that "Mary
Poppins" part.
Spencer started performing in musicals when he was a 3-year-old.
He was in a Christmas musical at his former church, First
Church of God in Shrewsbury.
Since then, he has performed at The Muny and a variety
of other venues.
He's scheduled for parts two musicals at Stages St. Louis
later this year. He'll be in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor
Dreamcoat" and "Music Man."
He said, "I already was scheduled at Stages so I can't
be in any of the Muny plays this summer." He first appeared
at The Muny in 2005 in "Beauty and the Beast."
Asked about his favorite acting experience so far, he
said it was the musical "Peter Pan" at The Muny last summer.
He said, "I got to fly." In the show's opening, Spencer
spent five minutes hanging from a wire over the stage while
singing.
Spencer said auditioning in New York was a unique experience.
He should know; he and his mother have traveled there pretty
regularly this year.
Spencer
outside Studio 505, the holding romm for "Billy
Elliot |
In his effort to get the "Billy Elliot" role, Spencer was
at one callback in February and the other in March. On the
final callback he was one of only four kids recalled.
"I was the last one cut. I think the other three will
share the role of Michael," he said. Often, more than one
kid is cast for a role because child-labor laws limit the
number of hours a young kid can work in a week.
Spencer said in his first callback, he was asked to sing
a song from the show but in different styles. "I had to
sing it as a rapper and as a rock singer," he said.
He admitted he isn't much of a rap singer.
Spencer
(center) with other "Billy Elliot" hopefuls
|
In the second callback, the kids were given speech lessons
so they could sing with more of a Scottish accent. After
reading some of the script, he sang "Expressing Yourself."
In the "Mary Poppins" audition, he was paired with a girl
from New Jersey as they read the script. He also sang "Let's
Go Fly a Kite."
But, he said there were some unusual parts of the audition.
He had to express different emotions when he played a role
of different inanimate objects.
In one instance, Spencer said he had to pretend he was
a slab of bacon in a pan that was being heated on a stove.
"I had to express my emotions as I was being fried," he
said.
If and when Spencer gets a Broadway role, he has one advantage
that not many Midwest kids would have. He can keep up with
his schoolwork from St. Louis because he'll have a teacher
right with him.
His mother, Tina, is a teacher in the Webster Groves School
District. "Since Spencer goes to school in the district,
I could get the curriculum materials and home-school him
while living in New York," she said.
Keeping his school work up is important to Spencer. He
said he gets straight A's now.
In preparing for what he hopes in a career on stage, Spencer
takes singing, dancing and acting lessons.
He's hoping to go to the University of Michigan to take
advantage of its performing arts program.
Then, he'd like a career as an actor, doing both singing
and dancing.
He also has a Plan B if his stage career doesn't materialize.
"I'll probably be a politician or an athlete," he said.
Beside acting, he competes in baseball, basketball, soccer
and lacrosse. He said baseball and lacrosse are his favorites.
