CAMAS — When Clayton Lukens was all of 9 years old, he saved a production of “My Son Pinocchio” by improvising his way through the sort of minor disaster that thespians with far more experience and training struggle to get past.
Pinocchio is supposed to knock down a shelf full of forbidden toys, infuriating his master, Geppetto. But the collapsible shelf accidentally collapsed all by itself, before Lukens could express the frustration the script calls for. So instead, he angrily kicked a fallen ABC block at Gepetto — establishing the right feeling of rage and rescuing the scene.
That’s when Stacy Lukens realized that her belief in her son’s stagecraft was more than maternal pride. As the mother of four, she said, she knows it’s her job to admire all of her children’s activities and talents — but Clayton’s acting smarts in “Pinocchio” impressed more than just her, she said. When other parents and even theater pros praise your kid’s chops, Stacy said, it’s hard not to believe.
Now, 14-year-old Clayton Lukens is getting ready to take the stage in his first leading role in a professional musical production. OK, “Fly Guy: The Musical” is a professional production aimed at children. But there’s nothing childish about the company, Oregon Children’s Theater, which has been involving young actors and young audiences in big-budget, top-quality plays since 1990.
In recent weeks, Lukens has been devoting hours a day to rehearsals at the Newmark Theater in downtown Portland. Sometimes Stacy drives him over the Interstate 205 bridge to the transit center there, where she puts him on a crosstown bus. When major weather made driving impossible in December, Oregon Children’s Theater sent rehearsal tapes home by email so its young stars could keep practicing.
Before this, Lukens spent years working with youth theater companies in Clark County — where the point is participation and growth rather than the presentation of a really polished final product. Then, last summer, he performed a monologue and sang a song for a general audition (not a specific part) for Oregon Children’s Theater.
Now, he said, he’s working at an entirely different level. Because this is a world premiere, Lukens was privileged to work closely with director Sam Foote and playwright-composer Austin Zumbro as they developed the show. Imagine spending three hours exploring every nuance and considering every single word in one five-minute scene.
“It’s very precise,” Lukens said.
Big bugs
On Jan. 14, Lukens will start a monthlong run as a boy named Buzz in “Fly Guy: The Musical.” Buzz is a pretty typical kid whose best friend is his pet. What’s not so typical is that his pet is a fly. Fly Guy loves accompanying Buzz to school and has his own fly friend, Fly Girl, but their happy world may well go splat on a class trip to a flyswatter factory — home of the dreaded SuperSwatter 6000.
The special friendship between Buzz and Fly Guy has been the subject of numerous books by Tedd Arnold since 2005 — beginning with “Hi! Fly Guy,” which shows the duo first colliding — literally — as Buzz seeks a special, smart pet to enter into the Amazing Pet Show.
How special and smart? Why, Fly Guy can even pronounce his buddy’s name!
Also special and smart are the hip-hoppy music by Zumbro and choreographed break dancing by Broadway veteran Kemba Shannon. Lukens said he’s been singing and acting for years, but dancing has been a new challenge.
Fly Guy and Fly Girl are portrayed onstage by human-sized, grownup Portland actors Gerrin Mitchell and Claire Rigsby. They’re among many adults involved in this production, Lukens said.
“It’s been a really interesting experience to hear how they navigate theater as a career,” said Lukens — chiefly by taking on lots of gigs and staying what you might call overbusy.
Is that what Lukens means to do? Maybe, he said. It’s early to say. He’s still 14.
“Obviously it’s very risky,” he said. “But it’s comforting to see how they do it.”
