Preparing to send one’s youngest child to college triggers an array of hopeful forward-looking expectations and pensive reflections. These converged when I wrote an introductory email about Samuel on the Class of 2027 Facebook page of the Colorado School of Mines where he will study Engineering. I proudly introduced Samuel, describing some of his hiking and SCUBA accomplishments, his looking forward to skiing, his Eagle Scout achievement, and his favorite theatre roles playing Crutchie (Newsies) and Nathan Detroit (Guys and Dolls). I carefully selected five photos.
The first response from another parent was, “Sounds like my son until you said musical theatre!” I looked at the photo of Samuel leading his theatre company through the Crapshooters Dance in Guys and Dolls and realized how his school experience had been so enriched by theatre. But how did he get to lead a theatre company on a professional stage at the Hobby Center in Houston’s theater district? How had he been personally invited to perform at the state teacher’s convention to showcase theatrical talent? Theatre was not our plan, and neither Janet nor I had ever wanted to be on stage. A quick reflection reminded me that Samuel’s journey had been a rollercoaster, and this made me want to reflect on how “the arts” had impacted his formation as a young adult, ready to take on the world. Here is the story of that parenting “adventure.”
For this exercise, my foggy brain is blessed to be aided by lots of photos and videos. My first observation is that, as expected, Samuel was often overshadowed by his big sister Bailey, which is unfortunately expected when a younger sibling. Bailey cast her shadow on Samuel, being eighteen months older, and about eighteen inches taller for most of their youth! Not that Samuel remembers, but his life started adventurously in Austin, Texas, moving to Beijing, China when he was nine months old, and to Southampton in southern England a year later. The first link with anything performance related that I could find was from our family trip to Disneyland Paris in 2007 when Samuel was 2 1/2 years old.
Perhaps Timon transferred some delayed magic to Samuel that we would experience eleven years later! For now, he was content being one of many kings in his preschool nativity.
My first recording of Samuel performing is from his fourth Christmas in 2008 when he wanted to sing his most austere song to his Louisiana grandparents on Christmas morning!
He could already make his audience laugh.
Shortly after moving to Ulverston on the edge of the Lake District in northern England, his “Year R” class (like kindergarten) gave a special Mother’s Day performance to the mums when Samuel was 5.
One advantage of an older sister is participating in her cool birthday parties. Bailey’s passion at this age was dancing, so her party had to be a High School Musical dance party, and the fun rubbed off on Samuel. Or was it just being around so many girls?
This end-of-year performance is not the most exciting, but it is fascinating to see the development of fundamental movement and performance in five-year-olds.
(Perhaps play at 2x speed 🙂 )
During the English school’s “half-term break” in October, we avoided the crowds during a trip to Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Florida. Janet’s college friend Pat played Bruce-the-shark in a performance of Nemo, and we made sure Samuel sat in just the right place to nearly get eaten! We got to have our own cast photo taken which was really cool. Samuel also got a Lion King roaring lesson.
One of our all-time favorite videos of Samuel is his 6-year-old performance as King Herod in his school’s nativity, clearly demanding that his “Servants! Bring me my wine” before drinking it and getting angry with the three wise women about Jesus. Samuel still had his southern English accent for now, though you might be able to detect some northern accents in this video, which a later video will show that Samuel picked up. In contrast, the best nativity role that I ever had was one of the horses… This one is nearly three minutes, but it’s a good one!
In our church’s nativity, three aliens replaced the wise women, and Samuel had lots of fun as a shepherd. It was great to see him acting alongside Bailey.
A seven-year-old Samuel visited Alnwick Castle, where the first two Harry Potter movies were filmed. The kids had their first flying lesson and learned a special effect: watch the two-second video. How did he do that?
The end of our five and a half years in England was approaching, but not before a couple of final nativity performances!
Samuel as Santa, harassing Mrs. Claus about shopping and not using English stores Tesco and Marks and Spencer.
Samuel’s first singing solo, as a sheep!
At a Christmas Eve service in Louisiana, you can detect Samuel’s northern English accent as he reads his cousin’s poem.
Looking back on Samuel’s nativity plays in England, while it was great to see him as a main character in the school plays, the church nativities included interaction with older and younger kids, which was valuable development.
We moved from England to Houston at the end of 2011 after Samuel turned seven. After one visit to the kid’s worship service at Second Baptist south campus, Bailey gave us no choice as she loved singing and dancing with the JUMP team. I don’t think we gave Samuel a choice! It was also a transition year, with Samuel transitioning into First Grade mid-year. In April 2012, both kids had a lot of fun at “Dance Your Shoes Off” at the Children’s Festival in downtown Houston. At the end of the year, they both of course performed in South Campus’s nativity play.
By the end of the year, the kids were in 2nd and 4th grade. A cool part of that year for both kids was learning Luke 2. While Bailey was two years ahead of Samuel and learned the whole chapter, Samuel did his best to avoid her shadow.
Another cool program for Samuel in 2nd grade was his class’s Presidents’ Parade. As Ulysses S. Grant, Samuel proudly announced, with his English northern twang still coming through, that he ate “pickles for breakfast and smoked twenty cigars a day.” However, initial indications suggested Fine Art would not be Samuel’s vocation.
Third grade at the end of 2013 brought 9-year-old Samuel to his first of many productions by Second Baptist Church’s SPA (School of Performing Arts). The main reason he got involved was because Bailey wanted to with friends, and they desperately needed more boys! However, participating with great older kids who accepted him really helped his confidence.
2014 brought the end of third grade and Samuel’s first SPA summer camp. Having been overwhelmed in the previous production, he insisted on a non-speaking part so was cast as Sandy the dog in Annie. However, his barking rendition of the Annie song with “ruff ruff ruff” was a highlight of the show. As Sandy, Samuel learned how much fun you can have in a non-main part. In SPA’s December production of the Sound of Music, Samuel played Friedrich von Trapp. He was really looking forward to his role in the church’s Really Really Big Christmas Show, but went down with a fever during the dress rehearsal and missed the performances.
2015 was a very busy theatrical year for Samuel. First, he was George W. Bush as a famous Texan in his 4th grade class, memorizing an impressive 160 seconds of lines! Fittingly, he’d lost his English accent. Or is that Texan accent acting?
Next up was his grade’s performance of Jesus Freak
May brought SPA’s performance of the Lion King, in which Samuel played Simba. Could we sense that a different role would be a better fit? We would find out three years later.
This year’s SPA summer camp brought the Music Man to town.
Samuel played Linus in SPA’s December production of Charlie Brown.
Samuel enjoyed participating in this year’s Really Really Big Christmas Show as a chorister and a tree. It’s the only show we have been in together. I was backstage as the front-end of a giraffe (I was too tall to be the back-end!), and I could see Samuel was more comfortable on the stage than I ever was.
2016 brought lots of performances, but not much video. First was the role of Les in SPA’s May production of Newsies at the end of Samuel’s 5th grade, after he’d learned to help “behind the scenes” with concessions for the Middle School musical, Wonka Jr., that Bailey was in. His guitar playing had progressed sufficiently for him to play the accompaniment in chapel at the end of the year.
SPA’s summer camp production of Thoroughly Modern Millie in June 2016 allowed Samuel to speak in Chinese, with surtitles!
Samuel played Laurie in SPA’s December 2016 production of Little Women, followed by the Scarecrow in The Wiz in April 2017.
My video capturing skills definitely needed some work! Sorry, but this is all I have, but the sound is not so bad.
Samuel had joined the church’s GIGL team, which led 3–to-5-year-olds in worship. He had so much fun, which we were able to see during VBS that summer. He also enjoyed SPA’s Worship Band Camp as a change from theatre.
This is a medley of Samuel’s musical performances from 2012-2017 (aged 7-12). He always beat himself up afterwards for not doing as well as he wanted. I love how he progressed. He continues to play the guitar and it helps that it is no longer bigger than him, but he does not let me record him!
Samuel: Remember Josh Wilson’s lyrics in I Refuse that you sang: “I don’t want to live like I don’t care.”
In fall 2017, Samuel started 7th grade, became a teenager, and starred as a munchkin in the Lollipop Guild in the Middle School musical.
The Lollipop Guild representatives.
The end of 7th grade saw another SPA Worship Band Camp and VBS’s Big Show.
Fall 2018 brought 8th grade, a 14th birthday, and Timon in the Lion King. Samuel was learning to “own” the stage.
Just one month after performing on the C-Gym stage, Samuel was leading several people whom he had acted with in revitalizing the C-Gym deck behind the stage door as part of his Eagle Scout project. Enjoy reading about Samuel’s scouting journey in this blog. It’s a bit different from theatre!
In February 2019, Samuel was honored to be invited to play Randolph MacAfee in the High School production of Bye Bye Birdie at The George professional theater. The person originally cast had grown to be taller than his “Dad,” which did not work for someone in their early teens. Samuel’s delay in growing was a benefit! Even though Bailey was not in the show (playing volleyball instead), many of her friends were, and the whole cast welcomed Samuel warmly. Middle School had not been kind to Samuel, and he found a warm, supportive, yet challenging environment in theatre.
For their summer theatre camp, SPA needed some older kids so Samuel took part one last time, but he was ready for High School. He also danced in his last VBS Big Show.
In the fall of 2019, Samuel started in the High School Honors Theatre class which performs plays in the fall and a musical in the spring. As a freshman, he was in the ensemble for the play Pillow Talk, but Samuel was fine with not having to learn lines.
The spring musical was Beauty and the Beast at Houston Christian University’s Dunham Theater. Samuel’s stature was a mixed blessing as it helped him be cast as Chip, but he got so fed up being stuck in his cup on stage and just wanted to dance with the ensemble. The rented costumes were amazing. When the “curse” was broken, he did not have to act that he was very relieved to have legs again. Moreover, his entrapment forced him to accentuate his facial expressions.
And then there was COVID. The quarantine forced rest on Samuel, and he grew at least a foot! But the show must go on, and indeed it did. For Samuel’s Sophomore year, he played Jim Strain in the fall play, Bernice Bobs Her Hair.
The spring musical in February 2021 was Newsies, once again at Houston Christian University’s Dunham Theater. Samuel loved his part as Crutchie and poured his heart and soul into it. Even though he was not part of the dancing ensemble, he did his best to dance in character!
We loved Samuel’s New York accent, limp, and his forecasting the weather from his bad leg.
This is our favorite clip of Samuel. His empathy shines through.
In the fall of 2021, Samuel played the lead Richard Montague in the play “Thanks Awfully.”
Here is a highlight reel of the show.
The spring musical was Hello Dolly! in which Samuel played Ambrose Kempner. Again, it was not his favorite part as he wanted to dance more, but he made the most of it.
A highlight reel of Samuel in Dolly. Ask Janet about the Sunday Clothes costumes, which she persuaded the director about.
Samuel started his senior year in the fall of 2022 and performed in two plays. He played Ralph Herdman in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever which was a lot of fun. He was really excited when his character got to eat oatmeal cream pies on stage, but after all the dress rehearsals and performances, he never wanted to see one again!
It was a poignant show illustrating what Christmas should really be about.
He also played the Nephew/fiancee’s husband in The Christmas Carol which won State Division One Runner-Up in the TAPPS One Act Play competition.
Samuel’s performance in A Christmas Carol earned him an invitation to perform at the annual TAPPS state convention.
Below are the awards the cast won for A Christmas Carol in the state One Act Play competitions, winning district and runner-up for state.
As a senior who had turned eighteen, Samuel took on more responsibility. While this included putting more effort into his acting, he also felt responsible for the cast. During one evening’s rehearsal, Samuel felt the director was being unnecessarily and unfairly harsh on an underclassman and told her in front of the class. Unsurprisingly, it blew up, with Samuel being summoned to her office. Standing up to the director was unheard of. There was a rush of viral memes. Samuel had always been a champion for fairness. While he would not change his opinion that the treatment was unfair, he accepted that showing disrespect in the class was not the correct approach. He apologized, and from then on, he had a great relationship with the director, as well as being the hero of the class. In the school’s end-of-year scavenger hunt, there was even a question about it! The photos below represent the relationship that they developed out of the incident.
As soon as the play was over, rehearsals for the musical began. Samuel had not been excited by either the choice of show (Guys & Dolls) nor his role as Nathan Detroit. Even watching the movie, with Frank Sinatra as Nathan, did not excite him. However, as the rehearsals got into swing, he saw the potential. He poured everything he had into the role, asking the directors each rehearsal what he could do to improve. He was also exhausted and dripping with sweat as he had danced so much. He began to realize that this was his dream role.
Many of the guys were Samuel’s senior friends, and Janet cooked them lunch every Tuesday which became a highlight of the week for everyone.
“The Oldest Established” was a lot of fun.
Samuel’s favorite was the Crapshooters’ Dance. He was given the honorary title of Assistant Dance Captain as he had so many choreography ideas, and his mission was to inspire every member of the cast to give it their all. He certainly led by example.
Samuel also had some fun acting scenes.
Samuel’s singing highlight was “Sue me,” especially when he learned how to hit, and hold, THE note.
Some members of the cast were nominated for prestigious Tommy Tunes awards and were invited to perform at the awards night at Houston’s main Broadway Show theater, Sarofim Hall at the Hobby Center. While Samuel was not nominated, our directors selected him to represent the company in a special number with the evening’s host, Michael James Scott who plays Aladdin on Broadway. Samuel was barely visible, proudly wearing his Guys & Doll show shirt, but he still had a lot of fun experiencing the professional environment.
A final assignment in theater class was a showcase where students directed. Directing was not Samuel’s thing, but he still had a lot of fun.
The performance of “For Forever” from Dear Evan Hansen was his favorite.
After the school year was officially over and Samuel had graduated, there was a final trip to Waco. He was one of seventeen actors from the state One Act Play finals selected to perform at the TAPPS annual convention. Before arriving on-site the day before for rehearsals, they had only practiced via Zoom. The result was impressive.
As Venticelli 1, Samuel had a lot of fun with Venticelli 2.
However, it was the presence with which he introduced this vignette about Van Gogh that struck me. How many engineers can present their ideas this well? How soon will it be until Samuel presents his inventions to an international technology conference?
Finally, in a local magazine’s article celebrating graduating High School students, Samuel identified his director as the most impactful teacher during high school.
Wow! What a journey. If you have made it this far in this excessively long blog post, I applaud YOU! I feel its length deserves a summary of Samuel’s theatrical performances.
| Date | Show | Role | With Whom | Where |
| Dec’10 | Nativity Presentation | King Herod | Chetwynd School | Barrow-in-Furness, UK |
| Dec’10 | Nativity Presentation | Shepherd | Croftlands Church | Ulverston, UK |
| Dec’11 | Christmas Presentation | Santa | Chetwynd School | Barrow-in-Furness |
| Dec’11 | Nativity Presentation | Sheep | Croftlands Church | Ulverston |
| Dec’12 | Nativity Presentation | Shepherd | Second Baptist Church | South Campus |
| Feb’13 | Presidents Parade | Ulysses S. Grant | Second Baptist Church | Sanctuary |
| Dec’13 | Hairspray | Brice | School of Performing Arts (SPA) | C-Gym |
| Jun’14 | Annie | Sandy the Dog | SPA | C-Gym |
| Dec’14 | The Sound of Music | Friedrich | SPA | JUMP Theater |
| Feb’15 | Famous Texans | George W. Bush | Second Baptist School | Classroom |
| Apr’15 | Jesus Freak | Bad to the Bone Guitarist | Second Baptist School | Sanctuary |
| May’15 | The Lion King | Simba | SPA | C-Gym |
| Jun’15 | The Music Man | Winthrop | SPA | C-Gym |
| Dec’15 | Charlie Brown | Linus | SPA | C-Gym |
| Dec’15 | The Really Really Big Christmas Show | Tree / Choir Boy | Second Baptist Church | Worship Center |
| May’16 | Newsies | Les | SPA | C-Gym |
| Jun’16 | Thoroughly Modern Millie | Bun Foo | SPA | C-Gym |
| Dec’16 | Little Women | Laurie | SPA | JUMP Theater |
| Apr’17 | The Wiz | Scarecrow | SPA | C-Gym |
| Nov’17 | The Wizard of Oz | Lollipop Munchkin | Second Theatre Company (STC) | C-Gym |
| Nov’18 | The Lion King | Timon | STC | C-Gym |
| Feb’19 | Bye Bye Birdie | Randolph MacAfee | STC | C-Gym |
| Jun’19 | Peter Pan | George Darling / Pirate | SPA | C-Gym |
| Sep’19 | Pillow Talk | Ensemble | STC | C-Gym |
| Feb’20 | Beauty and the Beast | Chip | STC | Dunham Theater |
| Oct’20 | Bernice Bobs Her Hair | Jim Strain | STC | C-Gym |
| Feb’21 | Crutchie | Newsies | STC | Dunham Theater |
| Sep’21 | Thanks Awfully | Richard Montague | STC | C-Gym |
| Feb’22 | Hello Dolly! | Ambrose Kempner | STC | Dunham Theater |
| Sep’22 | The Best Christmas Pageant Ever | Ralph Herdman | STC | C-Gym |
| Sep’22 | A Christmas Carol | Nephew / husband | STC | C-Gym |
| Oct’22 | A Christmas Carol | Nephew / husband | STC (District) | Dunham Theater |
| Nov’22 | A Christmas Carol | Nephew / husband | STC (State) | Cailloux Theater, Kerrville |
| Mar’23 | Guys & Dolls | Nathan Detroit | STC | Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center |
| May’23 | Tommy Tunes Awards | Show Shirt | STC | Sarofim Hall, Hobby Center |
| Jun’23 | Applauding the Arts | Narrator / Venticelli 1 | TAPPS | Extraco Center, Waco |
As Samuel’s senior year came to an end, we felt theatre had completed his education. He’d learned to drink wine and manage servants, eat pickles for breakfast and smoke twenty cigars a day, how to break a curse and summon his broomstick, marry a range of different women from a spoilt brat to a cabaret dancer, organize a strike and run the biggest crap game in town. The characters he studied opened his mind to many different walks of life and associated social challenges in different eras. The performances had allowed him to experience theatre at a professional level.
Samuel’s theatre experience was made special by all of the other people involved, from directors, volunteer parents, fellow cast members, and the crew. I chose not to name any of you, but you know who you are, and I thank you for your involvement in Samuel’s life. I hope he blessed your lives as much as you blessed his.
Samuel did not win any individual awards in theatre except for a recognition from the directors for his leadership in his final year. As Samuel does not plan to pursue theater professionally, the lack of awards was fine, though many felt he deserved them. We were most proud of how he stepped up to lead the company. We recognize that high school is a time of preparation. Today’s society inflates the expectation of the senior year so much, when high school is certainly not the time to peak. We are confident that “the best is yet to come.”
To close, I return to the beginning of this post. My desire as Samuel’s father has been to enable him to make the most out the tremendous opportunities in life that God provides him. I have been able to teach him adventurous activities from backpacking to SCUBA and help lead him to his Eagle Scout. I hope I have been a suitable example of a father and a husband. I tried to help him with his homework, but he begged me not to! Janet had a greater influence in that area, and any musical skills certainly come from her.
Theatre, however, taught him much that I was unable to. From confidence on stage to clarity of verbal expression. Tremendous teamwork is required to pull off the performances, and they require relentless physical effort. Having to interact with a range of ages as well as many adults is a bonus.
I am excited and jealous about what Colorado and beyond has in store for Samuel. Using the words of Mufasa, I pray, Samuel, that you will “remember who you are.”
The Adventures of the Cajunlimeys 