‘Kid, you got it’: talent in a chipped cup
Sarah Bast knew her son, Mason, could sing from a young age. She’d overhear him singing opera, his angelic, 3-year-old voice drifting throughout their house.
It blew her away every time.
Sarah described her son as happy, kind, loving and talented. As a baby, he would smile all the time.
“He just loves people,” Sarah said. “He accepts people, and he has more friends than any of my kids because he’s just nice to everybody.”
Mason, now a fifth grader, will be premiering as Chip in the Music Theatre West’s rendition of “Beauty and the Beast” at the Ellen Eccles Theatre March 4-12.
At 11 years old, Mason is the youngest cast member. However, age hasn’t stopped him from blooming as an actor.
Sarah decided to have Mason audition for the role of Chip after she heard about it from the director, Lindsey Kelstrom. She had been in “The Sound of Music” with Kelstrom and found out they had bought the rights for “Beauty and the Beast.”
“I was like, ‘I’ve got to have Mason audition for Chip,’” said Sarah.
She knew how talented Mason was and wanted to give him the opportunity to grow his talents.
“I want him to share it because he has a beautiful voice and he’s just a natural onstage,” Sarah said. “So I told him, ‘You could be the perfect chip.’”
Mason wasn’t expecting to get the role, so when he overheard his parents talking about the results, he ran into the room, ecstatic.
“I was super excited,” Mason said.
Sarah couldn’t be in the room with Mason when he auditioned, but she remembered hearing him through the door.
“I knew he nailed it from outside,” she said.
Sarah also didn’t know what to expect, so when she found out Mason got the role, she couldn’t hold in her excitement.
“We were screaming and jumping and hugging,” Sarah said.
This isn’t Mason’s first time being in a play. He auditioned for Winthrop in “The Music Man” several years prior when he was seven. Although he didn’t get the role, he played a background character in a band in “The Music Man.”
Sarah was also in the musical along with Mason’s sister and several other relatives.
“It was a whole family affair,” she said.
Sarah is in the ensemble for “Beauty and the Beast,” so she gets to go to rehearsals with Mason.
“I love having the memories with him doing this with him and it’s kind of like our special time bonding,” she said. “Every time I watch him, it blows me away and I’m his mom.”
As the youngest cast member, Mason had to overcome a little bit of apprehension at the start.
“It’s been nerve wracking because everybody is an adult and I’m the only kid,” he said.
However, as the show has progressed, he’s begun to get to know the other cast members.
“He’s gotten to know people and people come up and say, ‘Oh, dude. Knuckles. You’re so good,’” Sarah said.
Mason has also grown more sure of himself and his abilities.
“Now I’ve learned to be confident,” he said.
Mason said his favorite character in the “Beauty and the Beast” is Lumière.
“I just like how confident he is,” Mason said.
Because Mason is playing Chip, he gets to roll around the stage in a cart contraption that resembles a teacup — that’s his favorite part of the production.
“My head pops up and then I have this teacup half-thing,” he said.
Beyond the surface level of the play, Mason learned more about the meaning of the movie. Before getting cast as Chip, Mason had watched the movie several times.
But having the opportunity to be exposed to all aspects of the play, Mason realized it has a deeper meaning he hadn’t understood previously.
Sarah describes this deeper meaning as one of kindness and forgiveness and overcoming trials.
“I think that’s been the funnest thing for me is just to understand the story more in depth than I did before,” she said.
Overall, her favorite thing has been having the opportunity to watch as Mason develops his talents of singing and acting.
“When I listen to him sing or I watch him act it amazes me,” Sarah said. “I just think kid, you got it.”
Photo by Bailey Rigby