An old pro at 10: Dylan Sarah Klug returns to Morristown Onstage, Feb. 23

Dylan Sarah Klug plays at Morristown Onstage auditions, Dec. 11, 2021. Photo by Jeff Sovelove
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By Marion Filler

 

She’s an old pro at the age of 10.

Dylan Sarah Klug, a student at Assumption School, will compete in next month’s 15th anniversary edition of Morristown Onstage.  It will be her second appearance in the talent show at the Mayo Performing Arts Center.

Finalist Dylan Sarah Klug at Morristown Onstage 2020. Photo by Katelyn Nagy

“The whole experience was really fun and I can’t wait to do it again,” said Dylan, who was only 8 years old when she sang Defying Gravity from Wicked in 2020.

She couldn’t see the audience, and was a little shaky at the beginning of her number. But as the song went on, “I started to feel a lot more comfortable. It was amazing to hear so many people clap for me.”

This time, she also will accompany herself on piano, as she performs Chasing Pavements, a blockbuster for Adele in 2008.

Dylan will be competing for cash and glory against a dozen other amateur singers, musicians and dancers from Greater Morristown on Feb. 23, 2022.

Presented by the Morris Educational Foundation, Morristown Onstage has raised more than $1.2 million for programs in the Morris School District.

Dylan has been honing her skills with voice lessons at the Sellwood Studio of Performing Arts in Madison and piano lessons at Scherzo Music School in Morris Plains.

She also is energized by the show biz spirit of Morristown Onstage.

Dylan Sarah Klug, a finalist in Morristown Onstage 2022. Photo by Jeff Sovelove

“One thing I learned when I was a finalist was that it was an honor just to be in the show. The people that run the competition are so supportive and all of the finalists cheer for each other,” she said. “It was one of the best days of my life.”

Her older brother plays baseball, and her father plays the guitar, but he’s “not great,” according to Klug.

“The rest of us can’t carry a tune,” added Dylan’s mom, Amy Klug. “She’s the performer in the family.”

“I’ve been singing my whole life, basically,” said Dylan, who also draws and paints in her spare time.

She just did Annie in Plays in the Park in Basking Ridge.

“That’s why her hair is red,” explained her mother. “It was supposed to be temporary, but it never got washed out.”

Finalist Dylan Sarah Klug, 8, at Morristown Onstage 2020. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

In 2019, Dylan won the role of Bella, a schoolgirl, in A Little Princess. It was a a production of KOTA (Kids of the Arts), a nonprofit in New York. “It wasn’t hard to get in because I didn’t have a big role,” Dylan said, modestly.

In reality, KOTA is known for working with the industry’s top young performers. Many KOTA kids work professionally on Broadway, in film, and on television.

The production had four casts of rotating players. Each cast performed two shows.

“Basically, every day in August we were in the city,” said her mother, who pulled driver duty. Rehearsals were at the Alvin Ailey Theater, with performances at the Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre on 42nd St.

Dylan thinks a musical career is a possibility.

“I have friends who have been in shows on Broadway,” she said. “I know it will be hard. But it would be very cool.”

MORE COVERAGE OF MORRISTOWN ONSTAGE 2022

The Morris Educational Foundation presents the 15th anniversary edition of Morristown Onstage, a benefit for the Morris School District, at the Mayo Performing Arts Center on Feb. 23, 2022. See show website for ticket information. New this year: A raffle with $30,000 in cash prizes.

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