Second Chance

Lucas Wells is a friend of my oldest daughter, Kristin. He was a classmate of hers and he is extremely talented. He was a good athlete while in school and he also was amazing in the school musicals.

Last spring he was asked to join 100 other hopefuls to audition for a spot in the Broadway production Spring Awakening, a rock musical that won eight 2007 Tony Awards, including best musical.

In a recent Toledo Blade article, Wells told of his audition experience:

Invited to the final audition on Monday, Wells was excited and intimidated, because it was with the show’s composer, Duncan Sheik, and lyricist, Steven Sater.“I had idolized Duncan Sheik for so long, because he’s so good, and I tried not psyching myself out before I went in there,” Wells said.

It didn’t work. The staff could tell Wells was nervous, and after he performed, they sent him off for a few hours to relax, then invited him back to try again.

The breather worked, and Wells earned praise from all involved.

But he began to wonder what was really going to happen. Then his phone rang, and Wells was offered a part in the tour as a “swing,” which is a member of the ensemble, and an understudy to the two male lead roles, Melchior and Moritz. Wells said he was stunned. He had no idea they were considering him to play Moritz.

So now Lucas is on Broadway. Very cool stuff!

However, the thing I really am encouraged by is the fact that the staff gave Lucas a second chance at his final audition. They obviously saw talent and they gave him the benefit of the doubt...something most of us can do more of.