Fueling passion in life is a father’s job

by Chuck Tuttle

I’ve been working with children in theatre for thirty years and I thought that I understood kids until I had my own.  I don’t know if I understand kids any better now, but I understand parents better.  Sometimes I get calls from parents of small children interested in classes.  They tell me how talented their five year old is and how they’re always making up little plays.

They’re right of course.  Young children are natural actors with the kind of honesty that makes career actors jealous.   That’s the reason behind the old theatrical advice to beware of kids and dogs on stage.  When I’m asked if they have any talent for acting my answer is always the same: I don’t know about the talent part but if they like it they should keep doing it.  Passion is the best indicator of future success.  Tenacity is also important, but I don’t know how you can have that without passion.

All kids are born passionate.  A parent’s job is to guide that passion, not control it.  I remember one of my first paid theatre gigs was directing a show at a high school.  I had one student who would come to help out with the sets, but she had to sneak over after school.  Her parents told her she could do all the sports she wanted but couldn’t do any theatre, which she loved.  I never met the parents, but I’ve always thought they must have been either really dumb or really smart because they definitely fueled her passion to do theatre.

I hope that I fuel my children’s passion.  Neither of my two exhibit much interest in theatre but since we have a puppet theater in our dining room we do get the occasional puppet show.  My twelve year old son is passionate about soccer and practices every chance he gets.  I try to encourage him to do this between homework and chores.

He’s always had a great ear for music and took piano for several years.  Alas, the piano turned out to be too solitary an instrument for such a gregarious boy.  When he was able to join the school band, his love of music blossomed.  Sometimes you just have to find the right vehicle for their passions.

My eight year old daughter has a flair for the visual.  The world seems to be her canvas.  I get the kids to school every morning and my wife usually picks them up.  She often asks me “how could you let her go to school in those clothes?”  I always say, “I thought she was making a fashion statement.”  I try to bring home bits of fabric and things for her, which she uses to create art, clothing, and sometimes a hybrid of both.  I don’t have to understand it to admire it.

I hope I’m a good role model for my children and that my passion for what I do translates to my children. Theatre doesn’t allow for wasted knowledge.  I have used algebra, geometry, history, literature, physics, biology, sociology, and, above all, psychology.  So if my children learn anything it’s that they shouldn’t limit their interests.  One thing leads to another.

I think they get this.  At an early age, my son took ballet lessons and I attribute his excellent footwork in soccer to this.  My daughter takes dance and gymnastics which is like painting in space with movement.

Working with teens gives me hope for my own children.  With cable TV, music on demand and generic fast food, it’s easy to never experience anything new.  Recently, the teens I work with seem genuinely interested in the old movies I mention.  I used a lot of Buster Keaton’s bits in Go, Dog Go! After playing around with the style, they really wanted to know more about it.  Yes, they can learn new things from the past if we show them the way.  Sometimes being a parent is about saying, “Just try it!”

My own children’s interests don’t seem to rest in one place, but spread across the wide world, even into theatre.  The most recent puppet show performed at home featured my daughter as the puppeteer and my son as the lighting designer, with the help of every flashlight in the house.  He may turn out to be the only trumpet playing, professional soccer player who designs stage lights on the side.