Stretched out on the floor and raising one arm to his toes, junior Cameron Broderick prepares himself for his rehearsal performance. He bounces about the Black Box Theater, trying to get himself in character for his lead role as Freddie in “The Musical Adventures of Freddie the Frog.” Seeming so carefree, he recites his lines with the excitement and wonder of his character, who ironically, matches his own personality. Anyone who knows Cameron would say his resplendent nature is his most defining point, similar to that in his character Freddie.

“There’s a classic acting saying that says, ‘Don’t act the character. BE the character.'” said Cameron. “[When I’m acting] I don’t think in Cameron brain, I think in Freddie brain.”

Cameron has been a performer all his life. He remembers the day his dad gave him a xylophone with all the keys written on them, and from then on, his life surrounded the performing arts. He joined West’s marching band and performed in “The King and I” his freshman year as Louis and later in “Zanadu,” “Phantom Tollbooth,” “The Taming of the Shrew,” and “Chicago.” Even before coming to West, Cameron knew he wanted to be an actor.

“I was always interested in [acting] because of ‘The Lion King,'” Cameron remembers. “I saw it on New Years Eve, and I was pretty young for knowing what I wanted to do. It was a touching show. The hyenas and lions were running down the aisle, and I said, ‘I want to do that!’ Then, in Lincoln Hall, I did it. My first [performance] was ‘OKLAHOMA!’ I was a ‘Joe’ [an unnamed character] who bought a gun from the lead character. I was in “The King and I,” and that show was a classic. You learn something from each show. That was [another show that] touched me. I played a boy who had to grow up quick. I was only a freshman at the time, so I could relate to his character, and the people in theatre saw talent in me and were so accepting.”

Cameron plans to major in theater in the future and has a message to all aspiring actors.

“Don’t have doubts just because you haven’t [performed] before because you are literally forced to step into someone else’s clothes and brain. It gives you a better understanding of others.”

You can see Cameron in “The Musical Adventures of Freddie the Frog.”