Class act brings down the house

Cue the spotlight and let’s give sixth-grader Dusty Brandom a

standing ovation.

Dusty performed this week in Lincoln Elementary School’s

production of “Oliver!” playing the wicked Mr. Bumble. That’s no

small task, especially considering Dusty has muscular dystrophy and

can’t walk.

And although confined to a wheelchair, Dusty took on the role of

the villainous head of the orphanage, belting out three songs along

the way.

Born with a type of muscular dystrophy that affects only boys,

Dusty started showing symptoms of the disease six years ago. By the

time he was 10, he had no more strength in his legs. These days, he’s

almost too weak to lift his electric guitar, which he’d love to play

like Jimi Hendrix did.

Because Dusty tires easily, teacher Claire Ratfield cast him as

Bumble, thinking that the character appeared only in the first act

and was a smaller part. It wasn’t.

But none of that kept Dusty from taking the stage in the school’s

multi-purpose room. Getting his wheelchair on and off the stage was a

bit of a challenge, however. To tackle that, the school district

supplied a metal lift that was concealed offstage to raise and lower

Dusty on a platform. A friend of the school donated a black velvet

cape to cloak the wheelchair, and with a hat, suit and cane, Dusty’s

transformation into the Dickensian bad guy was complete.

So how does a wheelchair-bound 12-year-old, described by his

mother as “soft spoken,” portray this bellowing lout of a man who

peddles young Oliver Twist on the street because the lad asked for

more food?

The hard part, said Dusty, was memorizing lines.

Bravo dusty. You brought down the house.