Sam rocked and relished the role of Roy in his middle school's production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown this past week. It's his first brush with the stage and I think he's hooked.  Can you spot him here on the back row with his mouth open in Peanuts-like enthusiasm?

Who exactly is Roy, you ask?

He's the guy who wears the green fez and scribble shirt, naturally!

Sam is someone who believes in the power of research. He scoured Peanuts websites and comics for mention of Roy. He might have just been using the excuse to spend more time on the computer but just maybe we are witnessing the birth of a method actor. Who is Roy? What are his motivations? What are his hopes and dreams?

He had several lines, the most memorable (originally written for Sally, I think) was:

"I was jumping rope… everything was all right when… I don’t know… suddenly it all seemed so futile!"

There was much discussion and weighing of the pronunciation of "futile" in our household.

Is it fyoo-tile? Fyoo-tul?

Bravo, Sam!

(True story: When I was young I thought everyone was yelling "Provo!" at the end of performances. Somehow it made strange sense to me, maybe since both of my sets of grandparents lived there, and I relished shouting Provo as often as I could.)

p.s. It's fyoo-tul.