Despite his young age, Carter is a veteran stage and television performer. He began acting at the age of 3, in a local production of “The Marriage of Figaro.”
“I love acting, it’s something I always want to do,” Carter said.
Because his older siblings also have the acting bug, he watched them perform in productions and told his parents that’s what he wanted to do from that early age.
To date, Carter has performed in about 15 productions.
Last year, he was in the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes production of “The Radio City Christmas Spectacular,” which performed in 18 Midwest cities. In that production, Carter got to ride in a sleigh with Santa Claus and “fly” over the audience.
Carter said he’s looking forward to being part of Mary Poppins because that production is scheduled to be at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, beginning Nov. 17 and running through January, when friends and family members can go locally to watch him perform.
“A lot of people from my church will go see me, so that will be nice,” he said.
Carter begins rehearsals for the show in September and will perform with the cast in Dallas; Houston; and Tempe, Ariz.; as well as in Minnesota and several other states. Carter auditioned for the role a few months ago. He and his mom and sister, Rebecca, flew to New York for the auditions and he received a call back four days later, telling him he was first in line for the role.
“We didn’t know when I’d get to play [the role] so I was just hoping and crossing my fingers until we found out I get to perform at the Ahmanson,” Carter said, the excitement glowing from his smiling face.
Rebecca Thomas said she’s excited for her brother.
“Oh my gosh, I was so proud of him,” she said, adding, “Carter was so calm in the auditions and, well, he was amazing. I knew he deserved the part.”
In addition to being a performer, Carter enjoys activities with his family. He also loves to sew, and help his mom, who creates costumes for theatrical productions. And, he is known locally for a successful lemonade stand that he and his siblings offer the community on hot summer days outside the family home.
“Lemonade, lemonade! Get your cold lemonade,” the youth and his sister yelled out to passing motorists on a recent afternoon.
“We made $42 already today,” brother, Philip said.
“This is a fun business,” Carter added.
