Lakeview grad Jack Austin revels in 'amazing' opportunity to perform at Barn Theatre
Jack Austin feels at home on the stage.
So it seemed destined that he would eventually get a chance to act on his "home stage" as the local teenager has spent part of this summer at one of Battle Creek's favorite places to see a show — the Barn Theatre.
Austin, a recent graduate of Lakeview High School, made his Barn Theatre debut last week in "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers," which ends its run on Sunday at the professional Equity summer stock theater in Augusta.
Getting to sing and act on the boards at the historic venue, now in its 76th year, was a dream come true for Austin.
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"I have seen so many people perform on this stage, so many famous people perform here, and now I get to perform here on this stage, it's been kind of a wow moment," Austin said. "This has been everything I had hoped for, just amazing. The team and the cast members are just so kind and wonderful and amazingly talented, it's just an honor to be here and be around these people."
Austin, who will begin college in the fall at Western Michigan University and will major in musical theater, played several roles at Lakeview, including starring turns in "Oklahoma," "Into The Woods" and "West Side Story." Getting a chance to graduate from high school productions to the Barn had been a goal since childhood.
"I always thought about performing here, hoping I could get a chance," Austin said. "I knew I was going to go to college for musical theater and I know a lot of college students come here to get experience. So it was just awesome I was able to do it before I even got to to college."
With a big cast needed for "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers," Austin said the Barn Theatre reached out to him because they were short a few positions for male roles. After seeing him play Curly in "Oklahoma," they thought he would be a good fit for the role of Jeb.
"A show like this, where we just happen to need a lot of male performers, we wanted to offer the opportunity to local students, especially ones that have an interest in acting like Jack," said Patrick Hunter, who is directing the show and is also participating in rehearsals for the next production, which will be "Cinderella," starting on July 12. "A couple of our staff members saw him and found out he was going to pursue acting in college, so it was a perfect fit for us, giving him a chance to perform with us."
The stint at the Barn Theatre has been just the start of a big summer for Austin as he is next expected to head to New York City to sing at an event called "20 & Under Sing 20 & Over" at the notable club Feinstein's/54 Below. The event features four rising stars under 20 years old singing duets with Broadway musical starswho are over 20. Austin is scheduled to appear at the event on July 31.
Austin was selected after organizers saw him on TikTok, where he has a growing following and where he released his original debut single, "Give You My All."
"They had saw me singing 'Maria' from 'West Side Story' and wanted to talk to me about singing for them," Austin said. "It's just an incredible opportunity. It's an awesome venue and it's a place where producers come to seek new talent.
"This whole summer, with the Barn and now this, it's been hard to wrap my head around it because everything has come so fast. I have just tried hard to take in everything, soak in the moment and take advantage of these awesome opportunities. But I also want to be ready for what's next."
Contact Bill Broderick at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on Twitter @billbroderick.
This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Lakeview's Austin loving 'amazing' chance to perform at Barn Theatre
