40 March 28 • 2019
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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.