Joseph Zahn and his Emmy trophy.

Joseph Zahn was a member of the Muny Kids when he was 10 years old.

He's performed in a dozen Muny Opera productions. And he's branched out into other entertainment fields, including singing and work on radio and TV. (For more about the Muny Opera and Muny Kids program, see www.muny.com.)

Along the way, he's picked up a Midwest Emmy award for an interview he did with TV personality and actress Rosie O'Donnell.

Zahn is now finishing his junior year at CBC High School. He hopes to carve out a career in theater, starting with college work at New York University. He says the school "is No. 1 in theater."

If things don't work out with a theater career, he's looking toward elective politics. "They are quite similar," he said.

Zahn is a member of Team 11. That's the local pop music group that was started by Ted Koplar when he owned TV Channel 11. When Koplar sold the station, he kept the music group. They now perform throughout the Midwest.

Last year, they did nine performances at the Arkansas State Fair. They also performed at the St. Louis Convention Center during community entertainment activity associated with the 2001 NCAA Women's Final 4 weekend.

Team 11 also performed last year during Fair St. Louis' Fourth of July weekend.

Asked about the music they perform, Zahn said, "We do any type of music that people like on the radio." The group has seven singers and three dancers. They perform to pre-recorded musical tapes. "I sing and do a little dancing," he said.

He's also done work with the St. Louis Shakespeare Company.

He earned his Emmy award for an interview he did on the City 16 cable TV channel. Zahn reviews movies and also interviews stars of the movies that he's reviewed.

Rosie O'Donnell had starred in a movie, "Harriett, the Spy," which appeared on the Nickelodeon cable network.

Also, last month, he recorded a radio commercial for Coke. "They wanted a teenage voice for the commercial," he said.

He's done radio commercials for Busch Gardens, the Anheuser-Busch theme parks. He also has done a video commercial for Six Flags.

He gets paid for most of his work. "But, I couldn't make a living doing that in St. Louis. I'd have to go to New York, Chicago or Los Angeles to do that," he said.

But, he said the entertainment work does give him some extra spending money. It just wouldn't pay if he had to take care of all his expenses, including room and board.

Of all his entertaining, he likes theater the best. "I love to be out on stage in front of people," he said.

This summer, he's scheduled to be in the chorus in the Muny production of the musical, "Evita."

Asked about ever being nervous, Zahn said, "Everyone gets nervous. But, you try to overcome that and just perform."

Sometimes, he says keeping your cool gets a little hard when things go wrong on stage. He said his most difficult time came during a performance of "Jesus Christ Superstar" at his high school.

Zahn said, "While I was singing, a button on my jacket got caught in the hair of a girl near me. I couldn't get loose.

"I kept singing while I took off my coat. I left the coat with her. While I went on singing, she went off stage with my coat."

Asked about his favorite performers, Zahn named Oscar winner Kevin Spacey and singer Michael Crawford. He said Crawford was his favorite vocalist for his work in Phantom of the Opera on Broadway.

"I have respect for Spacey for his range of acting ability. He can handle every role," he said.

Zahn is the son of Mark and Anna Zahn. He also has a brother, Tony, 15, and Annie, 13.