Radnor Boy Wows Crowds as 'Oliver'

A little over a year ago at Footlighters Theater Board Member Sue Scott was attending a recital at her daughter's school when she spotted a sixth grade boy with star potential. The kid didn't even know he'd been "discovered."

Jump ahead to Spring 2013 and not only is Dylan Delaney of Radnor performing on the Footlighters' Stage in Berwyn, he's wowing big audiences in the title role of Oliver! the classic Broadway musical which closes its four week run this weekend at Footlighters.

Scott tells the story of seeing Dylan perform in a voice recital at Delaware Country Christian School in Newtown Square where he is now finishing up his seventh grade year. "As a student at DCCS, he studies voice with Teresa Anstatt.  At his 2012 recital, he was “discovered” by a board member of Footlighters.. me and recruited to become a “younger brother” in the ensemble cast of Bye Bye Birdie.  He started out as a shy young boy, but by the time the show went up, not only was he a much more gregarious person, he was also understudy to Randolph MacAfee and solidified that role on opening night."

By the time the show closed Dylan had been bitten by the acting bug and had attracted the attention of others in the theater who were preparing to bring the world premiere of a new muscial called Places! to Footlighters.

Scott tells Patch the rest is the stuff of actor fairy tales they write plays about.  "(Dylan) tried out for the world premiere showing of PLACES! but there was only a teen boy part in the script.  Writer Danny Scott (Sue's husband) and the show's director were so enamored with Dylan, they added a part for him!  Dylan was hooked, and as soon as he and his parents learned Footlighters was doing Oliver, he began preparing for his audition." 

Delaney received rave reviews in STAGE Magazine for his performance as the young orphan Oliver.  Never missing a  beat, in between these two community theater shows at Footlighters this spring Dylan performed as Kurt Von Trapp in The Sound of Music at his school.

When he's not on stage Dylan is a busy student with two younger siblings.He says he's already looking forward to new roles in musical theater.

Oliver! runs Friday and Saturday night this weekend at Footlighters in Berwyn.

Tickets are available at the door but the theater recommends buying tickets in advance on line as the popular show has been selling out in the weeks leading up to the final two performaces this weekend.