Interview: PETER PAN's Youngest Cast Members On Tour Life and Broadway Dreams

Eight-year-old Camden Kwok and 12-year-old William Foon never want to grow up. At least, not while they're starring in the national touring production of PETER PAN, playing at the Segerstrom through August 18. As Michael and John, the two actors are the youngest in the show (along with their understudies).

So what's it like being a kid on tour? How grueling are those eight shows a week? And what's it like to fly? BroadwayWorld took some time out of the young actors' busy schedules* to find out:

*This interview was conducted via e-mail.

How old are you, and how did you get started in theater? 

Camden: I’m 8 years old, and this is actually my first role on a stage! I’ve been going to Broadway shows with my family since I was 5 and I love it. When I got the audition for Michael, my agent asked my mom if she would be okay to go on a tour, and she said, "Sure, why not?' And now we are on tour!

William: I’m currently 12 years old. I watched the Lion King National Tour at the Orpheum in San Francisco when I was 5 years old and fell in love with musicals. Since then, I have taken a lot of vocal, dance, and musical classes/ camps and have done many local youth productions including the Peter Pan Foundation (PPF), San Francisco Bay Area Children's Theater (SFCMT), and Berkeley Playhouse. The first musical I was in was Lion King at Berkeley Playhouse winter camp when I was 6 years old. I loved playing young Simba.  
 

What have been some of your favorite roles before getting this show? 

Camden: This is my first show and first role, but I can tell you what my dream roles are! Gavroche in Les Mis and when I’m older, King George the Third in Hamilton. Or literally any role in Hamilton because I love Hamilton so much!

William: It’s difficult to choose my favorite roles because I love all the roles I’ve played. Some memorable ones are Mr. Lawrence in the Little Women musical by Peter Pan Foundation, where everyone laughed when I was on stage since all the March sisters were middle/ high schoolers, and I was 10. My first professional job was Tiny Tim at CenterRep’s Christmas Carol. I was so amazed to work with professionals, so I asked my parents to get me an agent. 

My most memorable roles are definitely Colin Craven in Secret Garden at Ahmanson and Nipper (Fagin’s Gang) in Oliver at New York City Center. In the Secret Garden, I got to sing a duet with Sierra Boggess, and I loved the music. They are still on our playlist. Also I made great friends – all kids, Ali Ewoldt, John Krause, Kelley Dorney, etc. In Oliver, I loved that there was so much dancing, and loved working with so many talented cast members in New York, especially the kids. 

Tell me about the audition process for Peter Pan.

Camden: I started off with a self tape that I did from my house. They asked me to tape two scenes and a song from the show, plus another song that I could pick. I did 'A Million Dreams' from The Greatest Showman. My mom showed me that they are making a musical of that and I would also love to be in that show. I guess I would add that to my dream show too! The week that I did my self-tape, I had a LOT of other auditions at the time, so I kinda didn't think too much about it. Then I got a callback and I was so excited!

Before the callback, I got really sick, but I made sure to still practice a lot. I learned the dance, which was hard for me because I actually never learned a dance before that but I worked really hard and tried my best. I also did some voice lessons to work on the song, and I worked on my acting for the scenes. When I got to the callback, I brought this pirate gold coin that my brother had, and I rubbed it for good luck! I was a little nervous but really excited. The callback was really long, like four hours I think. I wore my onsie pajamas because I thought that was what Michael would do and it was really fun to do an audition in my pajamas. 

William: I’ve been Michael Darling four times at our annual benefit musical, Wish Upon A Star (a rewritten story based on Peter Pan) by PPF, so I was very familiar with the Peter Pan characters. When I got the audition, I was super excited. I submitted a self-tape audition and went to NYC with my dad for the callback. I had a dance call, and the song “I’m Flying”. 

Describe that moment when you learned you got the part.

Camden: I went to meet my manager at Serendipity on the Upper East Side after school with my Mom and we got some frozen hot chocolate (10/10 btw). My manager handed me a book of sheet music from Peter Pan with Mary Martin on the cover and a teddy bear. I didn't realize I booked it and was just enjoying looking through the book, so when they told me I got the part, it was so surreal. I was kind of in shock but I was so excited!

William: When my dad and I were on the train going to the airport after the callback, Patrick from ARC called my dad and asked whether I like roller coasters. When we got to the airport, my mom called us and told us that I got the part! I could not believe how fast the process was and I was super excited! 

What’s it like being a kid in a Broadway tour? And is it hard to do school on the road?

Camden: I LOVE it. I was 7 when I started the tour, and everyone was really nice to me, and even though I was the youngest, it was kind of cool because I was like the baby brother. It is a LOT of work doing 8 shows a week and 3 hours of school a day, but when you are doing what you love, you just do it. When we were doing tech rehearsals before opening night in Baltimore, I told my Mom, 'I am never going back to real life. I love to be on stage. My Mom has been traveling with me these last 6 months, and my Dad, brother & sister have come to visit in cities like Chicago, LA, DC, and Miami. Its really incredible getting to travel the country like this.

We always make time to do fun things in each place like visiting zoos, going to see live shows, or museums and aquariums. But also, sometimes, we do normal kid things and just go to playgrounds, play at the pool, or have movie nights at the hotel with the cast. For school, me and the other four littles do school with Ms. Emily, who is our teacher and wrangler. We work independently because we are all in different grades. Sometimes we do school at the theatre, and sometimes we do it at the hotel. My favorite part of school is for sure when we have a Field Trip Day together!

William: It’s kind of hard to be a kid on a tour since we have to balance school, rehearsals, and shows. I like to explore new cities, but when we have school, we don’t have that much free time. It’s awesome when we have a golden day, though. We only have one studio teacher for five kids, with each one doing their own school, so sometimes it can be challenging. Also I’m traveling with mostly my mom and don’t see my dad that often, so that’s another hard thing. I’m so happy that when we come to CA, my dad can join us more often. 

What has been the most challenging part of the whole experience?

Camden: The most challenging part has been traveling. Packing and repacking every week and going through airport security can be stressful. One time we even missed our connecting flight from Mexico to Phoenix, eeek! We don't have shows on Mondays, and that's our travel day, so really, there are no days off in tour life unless you get a golden day which means you don't travel or perform all day! Those are the best!

William: The most challenging part of the whole experience is probably packing and unpacking every week. Each person can only have one big bag and one small bag for the flights, so we have to limit the amount of stuff we bring. I love it when we stay for 2 or 3 weeks in one city.

How is it learning to fly? 

Camden: Oh my gosh, learning to fly and getting to fly every night is one of my favorite parts of the show! I had a lot of initial training with Paul Rubin & Molly Wagner teaching me the flight choreography and how to use my body to hold specific moves. It's a lot of core strength. And trust. And fairy dust. It's like riding a rollercoaster every night with my stage siblings Hawa & William and, of course, my Teddy. We have a lot of fun up there flying around.

Michael: Flying is one of the best parts. It’s a lot of fun to be in the air, and the crowd is always clapping in that scene. I couldn't stop smiling after the first flight rehearsal. It’s so magical. It’s the best.

Tell me one funny thing that has happened during a show — Like, has anyone ever started laughing, or sneezed, or done something silly they weren’t supposed to do? 

Camden: Oh, I have a good one! I was on stage during the scene where we say goodbye to Peter, and I saw a shoe on the ground! I was like, who's shoe is this? I looked around but I couldn't see anyone with a missing shoe right away so I picked it up and did the rest of the scene with a shoe in my hand! Then I saw Levi, who plays twin/lost boy, go up to Peter to shake his hand, and he was missing a shoe! I gave it to him backstage, and it was pretty funny.

William: Recently I messed up my line where I’m supposed to say “Turtles eat vegetables”, but I accidentally said “Turtles eat recess!”, because I was thinking of Michael’s line “We like school, you get recess”.  The Lost Boys and Peter almost broke out laughing on stage.

Other than acting, singing, dancing, and Broadway, of course — What are some of your favorite things, hobbies, etc.? 

Camden: My favorite things to do are vacations with my family, my dog, legos, Roblox, reading, sushi, making forts, playing dodgeball, going to the movies.

William: I love reading, and my favorite books are Wings of Fire, The Hunger Games, and Warriors. I also love to draw and make things. I love animation and my favorites are Avatar, Pokemon, Dragon Prince, etc. Also, I collect stuffed animals and figurines. One of my favorite things on the tour is my parents allow me to get one stuffy from each city to remember it. I love Escape rooms and going with some cast members on tour. 
I love to travel and we usually go to Korea once a year to visit my grandparents, and also travel to Hawaii often. So discovering cities while I’m on the tour is so fun. 

Peter Pan is playing at the Segerstrom through August 18. Buy tickets here. 

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