By Amanda Knox

Callan Barth, ensemble member in this year’s 5th Avenue production of A Christmas Story, is wasting no time in assimilating as much as he can toward his professional life as an artist. Acting, singing, dancing, writing—Barth has been honing his talents and passions for the last three years—since he was seven years old.

It all started when his class went to see Broadway Bound’s production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was his first glimpse of theater, and what he saw as a tangible, legitimate step towards his ultimate goal: film.

Much more than a fan, Barth is a film connoisseur. He studies them, every aspect of them, from the dramatic arc to the acting to the directing. He studies the careers of the artists behind the art, and has favorites who he treats as models: Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese (even if he’s still not allowed to watch the majority of his films), Will Farrell…

…Leonardo DiCaprio, “because he plays a lot of characters in a lot of different ways and started off as a child,”

…and Ray Harryhausen, “because he watched something and said, ‘I want to do that,’ like I did.”

That is, upon seeing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Barth went home and told his mother, Thy Huynh, that he wanted to audition, never mind that he still needed to learn how to act, sing, and dance. Huynh, an art appreciator but stage- and camera-shy herself, didn’t know where Barth’s drive was coming from, but did everything to encourage him. She was his first music teacher, singing along with him to Disney tunes in the car and offering constructive criticism about his interpretation (not enough energy or emotion?). To this day she taxis him to all auditions, rehearsals, performances, dance lessons, and now, interviews.

Before A Christmas Story, Barth performed in the ensemble of other professional productions such as The Ring of the Nibelung at Seattle Opera and Oliver at the 5th Avenue. From these experiences he’s gleaned and centered himself on some deceptively simple and profound insights. A highlight from our conversation:

Q: What do you have to do to be an artist?

A: You don’t have to be good at art to be an artist. You just have to feel something and then try to make it.

His only regret? That there isn’t more activity and opportunity for child actors in even this highly active theater town.