Being recruited to perform in a production as a freshman in high school is a flattering experience. Being recruited because you look and sound like an 8-year-old is another thing. However, for Cornerstone University sophomore Kyle Juresich, it was the very performance which ignited a passion for theater that still burns today.

During his freshman year at Anchor Bay High School in Fair Haven, Mich., Juresich was recruited by his high school director to perform in “Bye-Bye Birdie” as 8-year-old Randall MacAfee. According to Juresich, his director didn’t want to go search for a young boy and decided that he looked enough like an elementary student to convince audiences.

“I hadn’t hit puberty yet, so I played an 8-year-old at the age of 14,” he said, laughing. After that performance, Juresich went on to participate in 10 additional shows while in high school.

Juresich said high school theater showed him he has the ability to quickly learn dance steps. This, combined with his love for singing motivated Juresich to pursue theater as a career. The first step in doing so was to audition for Western Michigan University’s theater program. Unfortunately, the audition didn’t go as planned.

“I choked,” he said. “It was a really bad performance.”

Consequently, Juresich did not get into the program.

Even after such a large setback, Juresich continued to pursue theater. With attending Western no longer an option, Juresich decided to attend Cornerstone University in hopes that it would one day be a springboard to another theater program. However, once he heard Cornerstone was beginning to establish a musical theater performance program, something he described as a “Godsend,” Juresich decided Cornerstone would be the place he would finish out his major.

Juresich, who is double-majoring in theater and music education, has participated in two Cornerstone productions: “The Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged,” where he played himself and a number of Shakespearean characters, and “Little Women” as John Brooke.

According to his mentor Randall Burghart, who referred to Juresich’s performance in Shakespeare as “hysterically funny,” Juresich’s success onstage can be attributed to the fact that he’s “a goofy guy in the best way.”

“He has that thing that all actors need to have: an almost complete lack of inhibitions,” said Burghart, assistant professor of music at CU. “It’s very endearing for him as a person, but on stage it’s especially helpful because he can and does take risks as an actor that most of us grown-ups are too inhibited to take.”

Juresich has not been able to perform in any productions, other than the annual resident assistants’ production of SNOC, this semester due to his busy schedule.  However, he hopes to be back on stage next semester, both at Cornerstone and at the Grand Rapids Civic Theater in their production of The Producers.

For Juresich, the stage is not only a place to entertain people, but also a venue to minister to those he performs with.

“I want people to be able to see Christ in me – in everything I do,” Juresich said. “If I walk away from them and they ask me what’s different about me, that’s a great opportunity to witness.”

 After college, Juresich hopes to get a job teaching and pursue a master in both music and theater.  One day, Juresich hopes to perform on Broadway.

“[In theater], you’re trying to portray something and convey what God has put on your heart through this piece of writing and speak to people and speak directly into their hearts,” he said. “To have them pick up on that, that’s the best feeling in the world.”