Eight-year-old Natalie Ann Bram remembers her first part in a stage play. She had the role of a pig in her school’s production of “The Three Penny Opera.”

She’s gone on to bigger and better things and hopes to again this year. 

The same holds true for Lauren DeLucia, 11; Erin Dowling, 11; and Jake Kohut, 13. 

All four are among youngsters who have performed in The Muny’s summer schedule. The Muny in Forest Park is America’s oldest and largest outdoor musical theater.

The Muny’s 2000 season opens June 19. There will be seven different musical plays before the season ends August 13. 

Bram is a second grader at St. Francis of Assisi School in south St. Louis County. Last year, she appeared as Molly in the show “Annie.” She also was Tootie in “Meet Me in St. Louis.” 

DeLucia is in fifth grade at Blevins Elementary School in Eureka. Last season, she had the title role in “Annie.” The show was adapted from an old-time comic strip “Orphan Annie.”

Dowling is a sixth grader in Queen of All Saints School in south St. Louis County. Last season, she played Agnes in “Meet Me in St. Louis.” 

Kohut is in seventh grade at Fox Junior High School in Arnold. He was a dancer in “The Muny Goes British” last season. This spring, he played Rudy Pazinski in “Over the Tavern” at the Repertory Theatre. 

Bram, DeLucia and Dowling are members of the Muny Kids, one of two groups of specially-selected kids at The Muny. Kohut was one of the first members of Muny Kids. He’s now graduated to the Muny Teens group. 

Becoming active in Muny productions begins with tryouts for the Childrens and Teen choruses. This year, 800 youngsters tried out for just 100 places in the Childrens Chorus.

Once selected for the Childrens Chorus, the kids audition again to become a member of the Muny Kids. There are about 50 kids who are Muny Kids this year.

Kohut was in the first Muny Kids class in 1994. He has had 10 years of dancing lessons and has studied singing. At school, he’s on the student council and is a straight-A student. 

He already knows he’ll be in two productions this summer, “Singin’ in the Rain” and “An Evening with Richard Rodgers.” 

He said he’d “definitely like to have a career in live theater.” However, he also wants to study industrial science in college. “I like to learn how different things work,” he said.

DeLucia will be in the children’s chorus in “Sound of Music.” This will be her seventh production at The Muny. Her first role was in the chorus in “Cinderella.” 

She’s looking for a career as a singer. Her older sister, Natalie, now is touring as one of two backup singers for popular teen vocalist Brittany Spears. The two girls became friends when they met during tryouts for a Mickey Mouse show in 1993. 

Lauren is a straight-A student who recently won the long jump and the 200-meter run in a track meet for Rockwood School District students. 

She said her role in “Annie” was her favorite. She performed for a week on The Muny stage. She said, “Then we got to travel to Kansas City for another week of shows.” 

Dowling has followed two other sisters into the Muny Kids program. She also is active in other things, including playing indoor and outdoor soccer year around. 

Although young, the kids say they don’t feel any stage fright when performing. Even when things go wrong. 

Dowling said, “I really don’t get embarrassed at all. If there’s an error, I just act as if nothing happened.” 

Bram said, “If I mess up, I just fix it.” 

That’s the kind of attitude they’ll need when performing before an audience of up to 12,000 at The Muny this summer.