Each month, iParenting.com spotlights a teen who inspires and moves us, who embodies the qualities that we all admire in a person, a friend, and a son or a daughter. Above all, the Teen of the Month is dedicated to making a positive mark on the planet. Rich or poor, famous or not, the Teen of the Month shines as an example of what today's teens have to offer.

September's Teen of the Month is Broadway star Shadoe Brandt.

September’s Teen of the Month is one singular sensation. Shadoe Brandt, 13, is from Butler, Pa., but he spends most of his time on the road, living out of a trunk as he performs in one big-name Broadway musical after another. It’s a life he sort of fell into, a serendipitous story of old-time Hollywood filled with soda fountains and ordinary people who became stars. The only difference is that Shadoe’s talent is anything but ordinary, as this extraordinary tale tells.

Hippie Kid
Shadoe is the first to note that his mom, Debbi, is an “old hippie,” who was determined to name her coming child something unusual. “I was going to be named Justice or Freedom, but one night, my mom had a dream that my name should be Shadoe,” he says. “When she woke up, she asked my dad what he thought, and he liked it, so that’s how I got my name.”

Growing up, Shadoe insisted on accompanying his older sister, Serena, now 20, to her dance classes, which is where he first began to express his theatrical tendencies. He also tagged along with his mom when she went to work. Debbi owned a children’s clothing store in a mall that often played host to pageants and contests for children. Since he was there anyway and enjoyed the excitement, Shadoe was always entered in any contests that he was eligible for. The idea was for Shadoe to showcase the clothes his mom’s store sold, but soon the pageants became a showcase for Shadoe’s emerging talent.

After winning one very high-profile pageant, Little Miss & Mr. Hawaiian Tropic, by singing “I Won’t Grow Up” from Peter Pan, organizers of the pageant urged his mom to take him to the tri-state finals, but with an entry fee of $200, the family wasn’t sure if they could afford it. About four hours after telling the organizers that they wouldn’t be able to make it, the manager of the mall showed up with a check for $1,000. She insisted Debbi take it, telling her that she didn’t realize how special Shadoe’s talent was.

At the finals, a New York talent agent was in the audience, and she was blown away by Shadoe’s performance. She approached Debbi and told her that Shadoe should be on Broadway. Debbi, understandably, just laughed in the woman’s face, thinking it was a scam. The agent managed to convince Debbi that it was no joke and that she really wanted Shadoe to come to New York to audition for Annie Get Your Gun. There was just one catch.

“I had hair down to my waist, and the catch was that I had to cut my hair,” says Shadoe. “I was almost 8 years old and had never cut my hair and didn’t really want to do it because my dad and all my other male relatives had long hair. Finally, I decided to cut it and see what happened.”

A Whirlwind Tour
What happened next was like something out of a fairy tale for a family from a rural mountain town. After cutting his hair, Shadoe went to New York to audition for Annie Get Your Gun. They told him on Friday that he had the part, and they left for the national tour on Saturday.

“I’d never even been on a plane before,” says Shadoe. “The few times we’d ever traveled we’d always driven. I didn’t even know how to go through security in an airport.”

He learned quickly, not only how to travel, but how to work. His next gig was starring as Tiny Tim with Tim Curry as Scrooge at Madison Square Garden in A Musical Christmas Carol. After that, he did a two-year stint on the soap opera, All My Children. Sadly, his character suffered from the fatal disease SORAS (Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome), and he was replaced with a hunky teenager.

While he was still working on All My Children, Shadoe got a call from his agent to audition for a new musical based on the works of Dr. Seuss. Shadoe and his mom were driving through New Jersey when they stopped for a break at a convenience store. When they went in, everyone was looking up at the TV – a plane had crashed into one of the Twin Towers. As they watched, another plane crashed into the second building. The audition was postponed for several weeks, but Shadoe eventually won the part of JoJo in Suessical, the Musical. He still says that was his favorite role to date.

Since then, Shadoe has toured with the cast of The King and I, as well as doing voice work and a couple of commercials. He’s currently on tour with the new musical, Dr. Doolittle, playing Tommy Stubbins. He not only sings and dances, but in some of his scenes he operates a puppet, Tommy’s pet duck, Dab Dab, while acting himself.

The animals are portrayed much as they were done in The Lion King, with an actor made up to evoke the animal, acting with a puppet attached. In fact, Michael Curry was the set designer for both shows. Shadoe says it's theater veterans like that who have impressed him most on this latest show.

“This show is amazing with all the puppets and how the people have to almost become the puppets,” says Shadoe. “My mom and I looked it up, and everyone on the creative crew has won a Tony and have worked on some of the most famous plays and musicals on Broadway.”

A Regular Kid
He may not live the life of a regular kid, but when Shadoe’s home he does the same things all boys do. He loves to fish, swim and hang out with his friends. Even when he’s on the road, he tries to have a life beyond the theater. After traveling by plane for his first tour, he and his mom bought a motor home to give them some flexibility when they travel. They can take off early for trips and stop at interesting sites along the way. They also absorb the historical sites of the United States – something that Debbi thinks will help Shadoe with his education.

When he first started in show business, Shadoe had a tutor, but now he’s home schooled because of the greater flexibility in scheduling. He always has his computer on tour and is never really out of touch with his family – even though he may not see them as often as he’d like.

Down the road, he’d like to keep acting as long as possible, but he’s also interested in directing. He says that some of the most interesting people he’s met are those who moved from acting to directing, and that it’s something he’d like to try in the future.

“I don’t really know what’s going to happen or if I’ll be able to do this forever,” says Shadoe. “Right now, I think I have a great balance, because I do work hard, but I also get to relax and see the country. I don’t feel like I’m missing anything.”

Want to see more?

• February 2005's Teen of the Month, Thomas Rancour
• January 2005's Teen of the Month, Jerry Guo
• August 2004's Teen of the Month, Linzy Hildreth
• Talk about it!