Arts & Entertainment

Prairie Fourth-Grader Plays Tiny Tim in 'A Christmas Carol'

Roni Akurati performs in the Goodman Theatre's production of the play.

Lake Zurich resident Roni Akurati has arguably the most recognizable line in the Goodman Theatre's production of A Christmas Carol.

He delivers this line at the end of the popular play: "God bless us, every one!"

The fourth-grader at in Buffalo Grove landed the role of Tiny Tim Cratchit after two auditions. He now acts in one to two performances of the play each day from Tuesday through Sunday.

"When I knew I got picked, I was really happy," said Akurati.

The son of Ramesh and Rajani, Akurati is no stranger to the stage — or screen. According to his Goodman Theatre profile, Akurati has performed in My Chicago: Stories from the City at the Gorilla Tango Theatre and Sleeping Beauty with SOPA Productions. He also performed in A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Regarding the latter, Akurati points out that while the Lyric Opera has 3,625 seats, the lights blocked his view of the audience and made it seem as if there were no audience at all.

Even if he had been able to see the audience, however, Akurati said he wouldn't have been nervous. He started his entertainment career at just 5 years old as a dancer, performing in front of thousands. Akurati said his mom asked if he'd like to get into acting and, after a brief explanation of what acting is, he agreed. Just days ago, he shot a commercial, and he has a part in an Indian film that will be released early next year. He was also on television in Jr. Cuisine Cooking Show.

When he decided to audition for A Christmas Carol, he didn't know what it was about at first. Thinking logically, Akurati guessed that it might be just about singing songs. His mom told him about the play.

Akurati went to the audition and then received a call back. Once he was cast in the role, he and his fellow actors went on photo shoots. He attended rehearsals and practiced his lines at home when he had free time from school. Akurati pointed out that in addition to regular math, he also takes extended math at Prairie Elementary, which means he often has double the homework.

Akurati said he's lucky because his script is somewhat easy, with "lots of similar lines." The hard part, he said, was learning where to walk and stand on stage.

On opening night, "everybody in the cast was saying, 'Break a leg, have great opening night.' I just kept saying, 'You too, you too, you too,'" said Akurati.

"I wasn't really nervous," said Akurati, noting that the Goodman Theatre has just 800 seats compared to the Lyric Opera's 3,625. He enjoys hearing the crowd cheer after he delivers his famous line.

"It's really exciting and we're really happy," said mom Rajani.

"His mom does a lot of the groundwork. I'm just the driver," joked dad Ramesh. He then added: "I'm really proud of him."

For information about tickets to A Christmas Carol, visit the Goodman Theatre website.


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