Broadway's bright lights beckon QC actor, 13

Apr. 27—At age 13, Queen Creek middle schooler Jacob Vella misses his family, including his dog, but maybe misses the local In-N-Out Burger a little more.

"I go there all the time with my friends," said Jacob, who attends Heritage Academy. "Not having it in a five-mile radius makes me sad."

That's what happens when you hit the big time. Vella is one of 29 singers selected to be part of the cast of HITS! The Musical, touring the country now and scheduled to be in Phoenix May 3 at the Herberger Theater.

"We held nationwide auditions with more than 7,000 individuals and from those auditions we pulled together an electrifying cast of budding young superstars who sing and dance with unstoppable high energy and talent," producer Bob Gries said.

From a hotel in Washington D.C. where the show made its 12th of 48 stops across the country, Jacob said, "I spent a lot of time preparing for the audition, and now I'm here."

The show wraps up May 8 in San Francisco and has been garnering audiences ranging between 500 and 1,500 people.

The production is billed as "an unforgettable 90-minute musical journey that recreates the biggest hits in pop, rock and Broadway from the 1960s to the present."

"There's no script," said Jacob, who with other performers ages 10-22 will perform as many as 80 songs in medley fashion. "It's more like a concert than it is a musical."

The production's executive producers are musical icon Dionne Warwick and her son Damon Elliott. Warwick, now 82, ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955-99, based on Billboard's Hot 100 pop singles chart.

But her legendary status is lost on Jacob.

"I didn't know her. We did listen to some of her music though to catch ourselves up," he said.

But stardom isn't lost on the youngster.

"Just being onstage is mesmerizing," Jacob said. "I like seeing everything come together. The end result. All the costumes, the layers of the vocals and the lights, the dancing.

"It's nothing like being in a rehearsal facility where there's no lights or costumes. It's a completely different experience once you are onstage and there is an audience."

Jacob has always had a good voice, according to his mother, Molly Vella.

But she said he was not always constructive in the way he used it.

According to Jacob's official bio, he started singing to annoy his older siblings in the car and his parents were prompted to institute a "no singing at the dinner table" rule not long after.

Good thing his siblings did not hold a grudge.

At age 7, while most kids are discovering sports and other hobbies, Jacob was discovering his voice. Literally.

He landed a role in Disney's "Jungle Book" with his siblings in the local theater and was bitten by the performing bug.

"I really enjoyed people coming up to me after the show because I thought it was so cool that I had what I thought was a fan club," he laughed. "I was like 'oh my gosh, these people think I'm cool!'" he remembers thinking.

"I loved the attention, but I did love performing. I loved to sing, so much to the point that my mom would have to tell me 'Jacob, stop singing! I'm trying to focus!' I was a very obnoxious child."

"Loud," his mother corrected. "I said 'loud.'"

Jacob has performed in "Freaky Friday," "Mary Poppins," "A Christmas Carol," and "Lion King" at the Hale Theater in Gilbert, and in "Seussical the Musical JR" at the Queen Creek Performing Arts Center.

He started his performing career with dance lessons at Rhythm in Motion Dance school in Mesa.

Fame has not changed the mother-son relationship, considering the two are on the road together 24/7 during "HITS" in support of Jacob's dream of one day performing on Broadway.

Mom is part talent agent, part chaperone, part support staff, and, well, mom.

"I don't know that any 13-year-old boy wants to spend this much one on one time with their mother in hotel rooms and on bus rides," Molly Vella chuckled. "But I really enjoy getting to see Jacob in his element and doing what he loves. He's a normal kid.

"I still have to tell him to pick up his socks in between shows, you know," she added.

"What?!" Jacob quipped.

"I'm still nagging him," Molly Vella confessed.

As a middle schooler at Heritage Academy in Queen Creek, being in the showbiz spotlight does not relieve Jacob Vella of his responsibilities as a student.

The family has access to online educational materials and a tutor travels with the show to be sure the kids understand their school lessons.

"The hardest part is balancing rehearsal time and show time with school," he said. "Not having a teacher was challenging at first, but once the tutor started it became a lot easier and efficient."

Being on the road away from home during his first national tour has its challenges, but Vella added it does have its perks, too.

"I love going to see all these places," he said of the sightseeing opportunities a nationwide tour presents. "In fact, we just saw the Capitol. We took a tour and got to see everything. Sightseeing is one of the most exciting things."

Outside of performing arts, Vella enjoys Kenpo karate and online gaming with friends. If his dreams of making it big on the Great White Way don't work out, he's eyeing a career in computer coding and game design.

But for now, even if it's not Broadway yet, he's onstage, in the spotlight and singing.

"I never imagined anything like this for any of my kids, so it's been thrilling

to watch it play out," Molly Vella said. "But I'm sure he would like a break

from me."