click to enlarge - Eva Sollberger
- Oscar Williams in rehearsal for Oliver! last month
Oscar Williams is just like any other 11-year-old. That is, any other 11-year-old who has performed in 20 theatrical productions and ads since the age of 7, and who has auditioned for a role in New York City.
Last month,
Seven Days multimedia producer Eva Sollberger followed Oscar from a Burlington hair salon to Mary Hogan Elementary School in Middlebury, where he was rehearsing for
Oliver! The show, produced by
Middlebury Community Players, ran at
Town Hall Theater, and featured Oscar's dad, Tom, as the Artful Dodger
. If you missed that episode of "Stuck in Vermont," you can watch it below or
here.
Oh, and that New York City audition? Oscar nailed it!
According to today's
Playbill, he has earned a part in the Broadway production of
Fun Home. The musical, based on the coming-of-age graphic memoir by Vermont cartoonist
Alison Bechdel, launched off-Broadway at New York's Public Theater in October 2013, and will open at
Circle in the Square on March 27, 2015. The book and play follow the story of the lesbian artist's early life in a family-owned funeral home, and the tragic death of her closeted father. Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron wrote the musical.
Several actors who performed at the Public Theater have been tapped for the Broadway show, including Beth Malone and Sydney Lucas as grown and little Alison, respectively. Oscar's role is Christian, one of Alison's two brothers.
Congratulations to a young Vermont actor whose very name may portend his future. We'll be watching.