Craig Connollyis preparing for his role in My Boy Elvis - The Musical.
It's rare to find a 14-year-old that has anything other than a vague notion of what they want to be when they "grow up". Craig Connolly, a 14-year-old from Maynooth, Co Kildare is sure he wants to be an actor. Having trained at Adele King's Theatre School and Gillian Oman's Independent Theatre Workshop, Connolly has built up an impressive CV, with performances in shows as diverse as Oliver, Bugsy Malone, Cinders, Chicago and I, Keano.
"I definitely want to get in to acting," he says. "I'd love to get an acting degree when I leave school, maybe in London. This is what I've always wanted to do. I played Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story in my very first show, when I was about seven, and I got such a buzz out of it."
"He's a busy boy," says Connolly's mother, Phyl. "This is what he loves to do, so we just go with it, and act as a taxi for him. We found him tap-dancing on top of our cars when he was four. It was an indication of what was to come."
Connolly plays a young Elvis Presley in My Boy Elvis - The Musical, which starts an Irish tour at the Olympia tomorrow night. The musical tells the story of Elvis and his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, with three actors portraying Elvis at different stages in his life. "I have a small bit of dialogue in it," Connolly says, "then I sing Tutti Frutti and I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine."
Connolly spent the midterm break in London, but any suggestion he was slacking off is quickly nipped in the bud - he took in three West End shows and a Shakespeare workshop while he was there. "We went to see The Lord of the Rings, Wicked and Fiddler on the Roof. I watch the actors and try to learn from them, maybe copy them and take things they do into my own performance."
The passion in his voice dips slightly when we talk about school - he's in second year in Maynooth Post-Primary School. "School is fine. Next year I have to do my Junior Cert so that will be knuckle-down time for me." Michael Kelly.
My Boy Elvis - The Musical is at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin (February 24th), also at the Royal Theatre in Castlebar (March 8th), the Waterfront in Belfast (April 18th) and the INEC in Killarney (July 12th). Tickets cost €39.20 from Ticketmaster.