Andrew Lyndaker, an 11-year-old actor from Newcastle, has been chosen to play a leading role in the musical “Elf” with the renowned Fulton Opera House in Pennsylvania. He is contracted for over 60 performances of the musical from Nov. 17 through Jan. 3, 2016.
Working at the Fulton will mark the second appearance with a professional company this year for the Great Salt Bay Community School sixth-grader. He earned points toward an Equity (Actor’s Union) membership appearing in “The Music Man” at Maine State Music Theater last summer and will accrue more points at Fulton.
His performance as Winthrop in “The Music Man” gained attention in Broadway World magazine and brought him to the attention of the casting director at the Fulton Opera House.
“He auditioned on Skype,” said his mother, Amy. “They just wanted to know he could hit the high notes because the director had seen him this summer.”
This is not an overnight success for the young actor. He has worked hard for this opportunity. His theatrical career began as a young boy playing the smallest thief in Fagin’s gang in the musical “Oliver” at the Lincoln Theater. The directors added lines so the energetic youngster could speak onstage for the first time.
“He definitely got the theater bug,” said Amy. “After a while he was noticed for his talent and not just because he was cute.”
The late Sue Ghoreyeb cast him in “The Secret Garden” as the child Colin, around whom the story centers. He was noticed by Griff Braley at Heartwood Regional Theater Co., who cast him in a challenging role in Heartwood’s “The Legend of Jim Cullen.” Last spring, he played the role of Gavroche in “Les Miserables” to critical acclaim.
Lyndaker credits Braley with inspiring him to “work hard and concentrate” and allowing him to work with professional adult actors. “I learned a lot from Heartwood,” said Lyndaker.
Braley said, “It’s been a real pleasure to include Andrew in both our middle school shows and in the child role of Eldon in our musical version of ‘The Legend of Jim Cullen,’ where he won the hearts of his fellow ensemble members. Andrew is a savvy performer and a really wonderful young man. We hope he has a great run in Pennsylvania, and we look forward to his triumphant return to Lincoln County.”
Lyndaker has been featured in several independent horror films along with his stage work, but finds it very different. “You sometimes do a scene for 40 minutes,” he said. “They film a few seconds over and over and then do it all again from a different camera angle.” He was nominated for Best Child Actor in the Austin Film Festival for his part in the short film “Tickle.”
In his most recent movie, “Suffer the Little Children,” he had to wear a mask made to fit over his own features.
“They make a mold right on your face, and it is very uncomfortable,” Lyndaker said. He said the film’s crew was great about getting the mask off quickly, which he appreciated. “It feels tight on your face, but the crew was right there pulling the masks off the kids so we could breathe better just as fast as they could once we were done,” he said.
He enjoys making horror films. “It’s not scary when you are filming,” he said. “Everyone is joking around.” He is not allowed to actually watch the movies, according to his mother.
Waiting for the arrival of the “Elf” script in the mail was a trying time for Lyndaker. “I don’t like it when I don’t have a play to work on,” he said. “I can’t wait for the next script.”
Lyndaker enjoys cross-country at Great Salt Bay and has been burning off his energy in sports between shows. He plays lacrosse and soccer and is a member of the local Boy Scout troop.
He fills time between shows reading scripts and great books, like “To Kill a Mockingbird.” “He’d like to play Jem someday,” said Amy.
Andrew lives with his parents, Luke and Amy, in Newcastle and has an older sister, Megan. The family made the choice to allow Andrew to pursue his calling from Maine instead of moving to a city. “We want to maintain our life here. We love Maine, so if one of us has to pack up and go with him sometimes that is what we will do,” Amy said.
Andrew and Amy will arrive in Pennsylvania with only two weeks for him to rehearse before the production opens on Nov. 17.
“The theater has an apartment for us only 50 steps from the theater door,” said Amy. “We don’t even have to worry about bad weather.”
Lyndaker will not escape the schoolroom just because he has a full-time job this fall and winter. His mother is a certified teacher who will provide lessons and communicate with his GSB classroom teacher.
On Mondays, the traditional day when theaters are dark, the Lyndakers will take advantage of the new vicinity to visit Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Dutch Country, and many museums and historical sites in the area.
The Fulton Opera House, considered to be the nation’s oldest continuously operating theatre, is one of only eight theaters to be named a National Historic Landmark. Many of the “greats” of the American and international stage have performed on the Fulton boards. The list is extensive and includes most of the Barrymore family, Sarah Bernhardt, W. C. Fields, Alfred Lunt, Al Jolson, Irene Dunne, Mark Twain, a young actress named Helen Brown (later known as Helen Hayes), Marcel Marceau, and hundreds more. They will now add Andrew Lyndaker to that list.
As Michael, Lyndaker will play a sidekick to “Buddy” in “Elf: The Musical.” Buddy is the older brother who mistakenly crawled into Santa’s bag of gifts as a baby and was transported to the North Pole.
Buddy travels to New York City to find his birth father, get Dad off the naughty list, and help New York remember the true meaning of Christmas. In the process, Buddy changes the life of his younger brother, Michael, played by Lyndaker.
Andrew Lyndaker is thrilled with this new role. He wants his friends and neighbors to know that he would love to have some of them come to see him in “Elf: The Musical.” “That would be so cool,” he said.
Lyndaker will arrive home in Maine just after the New Year and jump directly into the Winter Drama Adventure, an all-inclusive local youth theater founded by Ghoreyeb and now directed by Heidi Kopishke and Griff Braley.
