40 March 28 • 2019
jn

T

o say that eighth-grader Cameron 
Klein has spare time would be a 
stretch. Outside of his workload 
at Hillel Day School, he spends his 
afternoons, evenings and some parts of 
the weekend honing his talents for the 
stage in hopes of someday making it on 
Broadway. 
Oh, and about that spare time? You 
can bet he’
s plugged in on his ear-
buds listening to a Broadway musical 
soundtrack on Spotify. His current 
favorites: Mean Girls and Dear Evan 
Hanson and, for a classic, West Side 
Story. 
It was Cameron’
s vocal talents that led 
him to squeeze in another project on 
his crowded schedule and collaborate 
with local songwriter and author Andy 
Gutman. Gutman, composer of more 
than 300 musical pieces, had just written 
a children’
s song and an accompanying 
book What Can I Be Today? (2018, 
Gutcheck Music) told through the char-
acter of a caterpillar. 
Gutman introduced this song/book 
concept to fellow singer/songwriter 
Alena Kourkouliocis, who happened to 
be Klein’
s dance teacher. She suggested 
Cameron sing Charlie the Caterpillar’
s 
song. 
Shortly after, Gutman and Cameron 
met and made their way to the recording 
studio. Though he is the youngest singer 

with whom Gutman has ever worked, 
Gutman admires his advanced maturity 
and professionalism. 
“Not only is Cameron talented and 
capable, but he is a genuine young man,
” 
Gutman said. “We put him in the studio 
in a week and the recording was ready to 
go just in time for my book to come out. 
He is an incredible talent.
”
This is Gutman’
s fourth children’
s 
book. The profits of the sales of the song 
and book will be donated to children’
s 
literacy programs such as Brilliant 
Detroit, Beyond Basics and Project 
Night Night. 
Gutman, a Temple Israel member 
who has served as a BBYO adviser, 
plans to create a children’
s musical out 
of this current project and his previous 
books and songs. He hopes Charlie the 
Caterpillar will inspire young children to 
read and explore their own ambitions. 

WORKING HARD
As for Cameron’
s ambitions, every day is 
one step closer to the Great White Way. 
But, for now, he enjoys sporadic singing 
in a band he put together with some 
friends from an overnight performing 
arts camp, and training between 15-20 
hours a week on his dancing skills, 
including jazz, hip hop, ballet and tap. 
Though he is known at school for his 
singing, he tends to keep his dancing 

under the radar. But as any male dancer 
will tell you, the training involved can 
be just as or more rigorous than for con-
ventional athletics. 
“Boy dancers should be treated the 
same as any other athlete,
” Cameron 
said. “It’
s not for wimps.
”
Indeed, to train to be a male dancer 
one must have the strength and ability 
to lift a woman partner over one’
s head 
and make it look effortless. That means 
Cameron has enrolled in two-hour 
strength-training sessions. That’
s outside 
his dance studio, where he can spend up 
to 20 hours per week.
Cameron’
s mother, Lisa Klein of West 
Bloomfield, said she supports her son’
s 
dream and admires his dancing pursuits 
even though she knows most theater-
goers rarely think about the training it 
takes to make it on stage. 
“People get excited about plays and 
musicals, but they often do not think 
about or appreciate the level of physical 
conditioning and training required of 
male dancers — they have to be ath-

letes,
” Lisa said. “Often kids make a 
big deal (or tease) when a boy in high 
school dances, but those boys may end 
up as backup dancers for Bruno Mars or 
become the next Bruno himself! What 
everyone needs to realize is that those 
men who are dancing on big stages were 
once the boys who danced in their high 
school musicals.
”
Cameron has been pursuing theater 
since preschool when he enrolled in 
Pint-Sized Playhouse classes at Franklin 
Athletic Club. Since then he has had 
roles in dozens of productions includ-
ing The Music Man, Mary Poppins, 
Pinocchio, Tarzan, Charlotte’
s Web and 
Aladdin.
He’
s also an active member of temple 
Israel’
s Teen T’
fillah Team. In recent 
years, he put his singing and dancing 
skills to use as a select 
performer for temple’
s 
annual Purim shpiel 
(see a video of him 
from this year at 
thejewishnews.com). 
His mom says Cantors 
Neil Michaels and 
Michael Smolash have 
been wonderful teach-
ers and mentors. 
Geographically 
and professionally, 
Broadway is still a 
while away. Parents 
Jason and Lisa 
want their children, 
Cameron and Brady, to 
have normal childhoods. 
“We admire his passion, but we don’
t 
live in New York and we want to remain 
a family unit as long as possible [instead 
of looking for entertainment opportuni-
ties requiring travel or relocation],
” Lisa 
said. “When he is older, he can make 
that decision to go for it.
”
Someday, Cameron would like to land 
a role in a big dancing production such 
as Newsies or Dear Evan Hansen. But 
right now, he’
s sticking to school and 
striving to get better with every dance 
combination and vocal run. 
“I know that pursuing musical the-
ater is not your typical path to a career,
” 
Cameron said. “But you have to love 
what you are doing. And though I know 
it will be challenging, when you are 
down you always have to get right back 
up because in the show business indus-
try, you have to persevere and never give 
up.
” ■

To hear Cameron singing Charlie the Caterpillar’
s 
song, go to bit.ly/2CxM7Dj. 

STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Path to
Broadway

musical theater
arts&life

Cameron Klein lends his voice 
to book’
s song and 
works
hard for his dream.

Author/composer Andy Gutman with Cameron Klein, 
who recorded a song to accompany his book 

Cameron Klein on the 

bimah at Temple Israel 

with Cantors Michael 

Smolash and Neil 

Michaels. 

