By Chelsea Dill

Ten-year-old Anthony Picarello arrived at Meadowbrook Orchards wearing a cowboy hat and boots he had bought in Texas earlier that week. He had come home to Sterling for a short break before leaving again to resume his part as Young Charlie in the national tour of Kinky Boots—winner of the 2013 Tony award for Best Musical, and written by Harvey Fierstein, with music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper.

As we sat down for lunch, Picarello mentioned the recent grueling travel day. “[Being on tour] […] has its pros and cons, but it’s still pretty fun.[…] Travel days are definitely the hardest,” he says, referring to the atypical day of delays. “Our flight was cancelled and we were in the airport all day!” But today, Picarello seems the farthest from tired. He taps his feet excitedly on the table legs, bursting with as much energy as if he was preparing to go on stage.

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His eyes lit up like a marquee on the Great White Way when he described his favorite experiences on tour. “[The] best thing is probably making new friends and being able to see everything,” he says. Seeing the Mall of America, St. Louis Arch, Warner Bros Studio Tour in Los Angeles, and Hoover Dam have been memorable perks as part of on-tour school field trips and days off. “Half of the places I have been to, I thought I would never get to [visit].” He smiles and peppers his speech with spontaneous short bursts of song, showing his developing vocal talents he exhibits on stage in Kinky Boots. “It […] makes me feel more confident and boosts my energy, and that makes me happy,” he says about the audience applauding his performance.

With him was his mother, Doreen Picarello, his companion on tour for the last year. “I think we always had a strong bond with each other,” Picarello says of his relationship with her. Growing up with older sisters, Anthony would often spend time with his mother. Even now after months together on the road, rarely do they get on each other’s nerves. She was initially hesitant to investigate the business for her son’s acting career when they saw a long line at a mall kiosk to schedule initial acting consultations. “I thought, ‘Oh, he’s not ready, he’s too young,’” she says. “But then [I thought], ‘What have we got to lose?’ […] We’ll try.” Taking that chance certainly paid off and she is more than proud of her son’s accomplishments. “I’m excited for him. He’s a good kid, I’m happy for him. […] [It’s] a once in a lifetime opportunity. I don’t know if he would get this opportunity again,” she says.

After connecting with an agent in New York City, Picarello gained roles as extras in FX’s television drama, The Americans, and films, Winter’s Tale and After the Fall. He always wanted to be on television, but after landing a lead role in his second grade class play, “Spaced Out,” it boosted his desire to act on stage. Periodically traveling to New York City for classes and auditions, Picarello won the role in Kinky Boots and started the tour in Las Vegas during September 2014. Almost a year-and-a-half later, Picarello is one of the last remaining original cast member of the national tour company. As of November 2015, Picarello has performed in over 430 shows nationwide—and his enthusiasm doesn’t seem to be waning anytime soon.

Picarello speaks with maturity beyond his years, having learned much of the process of being in “the business” and what it takes behind the scenes to put together a national tour. He maintains professionalism even when things go awry during a performance. During one performance, when a prop didn’t work correctly, Picarello improvised to make the scene flow smoothly. Afterwards, he was commended for his quick-thinking.

Throughout his experiences, Picarello still feels very linked to his roots. “I get homesick when I’m doing something fun and I wish my [family] was here to see it.” Coming from a very supportive family, his father and sisters visit him on tour and he reconnects with family when he has breaks during the schedule. “[For] my first Christmas on tour, we were in San Francisco, […] [and] it was one of the best Christmases of my life. My dad, sisters, and my mom were there,” he says. With the holiday season nearing, he mentions that special days on tour are when the cast comes together as a big family—from cast parties to trick-or-treating at dressing room doors. “I do miss having holidays [at home] with family, but it is still fun being on the road.”

Touring with the show also means keeping up with his studies through online schooling and with an on-location teacher. He also has big goals for the future because of his diverse interests, including acting and dancing professionally, becoming a DJ, and exploring the fashion industry. “I wanna make video games and do programming,” he adds.

One of the themes of Kinky Boots is being true to yourself—a lesson Picarello takes to heart. “I started embracing what I like […] because of this tour. I’ve embraced who I really am.” His mother also sees the positive impact of the tour, which is giving her son worldly experiences that will broaden the possibilities for his future. “[This experience] helped shaped him for who he is and he can go out and accomplish what [his] heart says [he] wants to do,” says Doreen Picarello.

As our conversation wound down, we diverted with talk about popular music and recent movies, while Picarello eyed the jungle gym outside the dining area at the orchard. His mother nodded and he eagerly took off with the spurs jingling on his boots. Even after standing on hundreds of stages across the US, he’s still a regular kid who wants to play.

Check out http://kinkybootsthemusical.com/tour.php to catch Kinky Boots on tour.