Kai Vanderhoeven

In December of 2013 I had the privilege of starring as Kurt Von Trapp in Mill Mountain Theatre’s production of, “The Sound of Music”. It was a very long and labor intensive episode in my life, I miss it so much and would do anything to be back up on that stage performing with that cast.

My “Acting Career” started in the 3rd grade when mom my made me join the Shakespeare Club at my Montessori school. I had never heard anything about Shakespeare before, or even who he was. I don't think I even knew he was a person. Normally at this time I would be playing outside with the rest of the kids, so this to me wasn't a very amusing idea. The first day I remember was kind of slow and I had no idea what was going, on but I didn’t care either. At first I hated the Shakespeare program; all we did was sit in a circle and listen to an old women tell us about some dude that was already dead and just used big words. To a 9 year old boy, this was misery. I begged my mom to get taken out of this club but she wouldn't let me.  I remember the day that my teacher, Ms. Janice, told the class that, "Shakespeare was one of the founding fathers of the English language." Since I had always had an interest in English this sparked my curiosity. I remember thinking maybe this club could be cool.  From then on I began to participate and pay attention during the class and immediately fell in love with the world of Theatre.

Ms. Janice taught us a lot about Shakespeare and most importantly taught us how to act.  Shakespeare was not easy to learn, or to read, but Ms. Janice was a good teacher. She always knew how to explain the plays so that we could understand them and she always knew how to keep our young minds attentive. I remember when we started reciting the Shakespeare monologues, they were not easy at all. The first monologue that I was assigned was from “Julius Caesar,” (one of Shakespeare’s more famed plays) where Mark Antony is addressing the people of Rome after Julius was brutally murdered. Looking back on this page long sheet of intricate packed words, I am amazed that I was able to memorize it.

In my first year of Shakespeare Club, we put on a show that was mainly just a collection of monologues due to the lack of participants. The second year we had more kids but still were only able to put on a show of monologues and small scenes from plays. It was a big step, but the third year we were able to put on the play, “A Midsummer Night's Dream,” I was lucky enough to have the main role. It was a good production. We rented a stage and had quite an audience. I hadn't thought anything really of acting or continuing acting until after that production.

After the show I had many people come up to me and say things like, "You were amazing!”, “You have pure talent," and "You should really continue acting." In the moment it felt really good and I didn't think much of it. Soon after at a family get together, my uncle mentioned auditions for Mill Mountain Theatre's production of “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.” It immediately sparked my interest and I began working on my audition piece. I chose to share a monologue from “A Mid Summers Night’s Dream.”  I was so nervous when the day came, I had no idea if I would even compare to any of these other kids auditioning.  When the day finally came and my name was called, I nervously walked into a room alone where I performed my piece. I could tell the director liked it and was impressed with my ability to recite Shakespeare with passion.   About a month later I got an email saying that I had made the part of the preacher’s son. I was so excited and overwhelmed with joy.

A couple of weeks later, the rehearsals began. They were long and hard, but it was a pretty simple play and my personal part did not require too much speaking which I was happy about, being new to the whole acting world and all. We had 21 shows and I enjoyed every single one.  Because of my interest and love of the theatre, my mom took me to NYC for my birthday. We went to several Broadway shows including “Wicked,” “Phantom of The Opera,” “Anything Goes,” and “How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying.”

My acting career kind of took a pause for a while after that show, until the following year when I heard that auditions for, “The Sound of Music” were happening. This would be a pretty big deal and a much bigger part. I worked with a singing teacher a few times so I could feel confident about my audition. I chose a song from the musical “Oliver,” ”I’d Do Anything,” to audition with. Again, after a few long weeks of waiting, I finally received a letter in the mail announcing my part as, Kurt in “The Sound of Music.” This was such an honor and a truly amazing experience. We practiced six days a week and usually until 10 or 11 at night. We did a total of 28 performances in a matter of four weeks, and I would do it all again. We as the seven Von Trapp kids and our parents became very close and truly felt like a family. When you spend as much time as I did with a group of people, you really create a loving bond and you become almost family. I didn’t want it to end, it was grueling and demanding but so worth enthusiastic standing ovation after every performance.

I have taken a break from theater for the past year, but plan to get involved in the Hidden Valley Theater program starting this year. I will forever be grateful to Ms. Janice Salzburg for sharing her knowledge and love of Shakespeare and the theater with me. This whole experience taught me, that with a little hard work and dedication you can be successful at things and learn to love them.