Batavia's JD Rodriguez Ready to Perform on National TV at June 9 Tony Awards

When Neil Patrick Harris hosts the 67th annual Tony Awards June 9 on CBS, he'll share the Radio City Music Hall stage with a certain Rotolo Middle School sixth-grader.

That's right, and you heard it here.

Batavia's very own J.D. Rodriguez has had a meteoric rise in the theater that includes playing Flick in the 1st National Touring Company of A Christmas Story the Musical followed by his Broadway debut in the same play, cast as the iconic “triple dog daring” Schwartz.

It's in that role he'll be performing before a nationwide audience, sometime between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. (our time) June 9 on CBS.

Oh, and incidentially, A Christmas Story The Musical, was nominated for tidy little three Tony’s, including Best Musical.

To say Rodriguez is on a roll would be like saying Angelina Jolie was "mentoned in this news" this morning. Just last week, Rodriguez was interviewed by Dean Richards on WGN, and right now he's performing eight shows a week (yes, again, you heard me) through June 2 as the Artful Dodger in Oliver! at the Drury Lane.

Before that he:

• Performed on Good Morning, America! as Schwartz.
• Played Charlie in the Steel Beam Theatre's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory the Musical.
• Was in the ensemble cast of Scrooge the Musical at Steel Beam, and
• Played Ollie in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever at The Albright Theatre.

And sometime along the way, he's done commercials or voiceover work for a couple companies you might have heard of: McDonald's and U.S. Cellular.

He's been performing since he was 9.

This from the "Meet JD" page of his website (Yes, he has a website.):

"When JD isn't working, he enjoys all sports including football, baseball, basketball, soccer, golf and more. He loves hanging with his friends and family (when his two sisters aren't bugging him) and experiencing new places. He especially enjoyed his time in Manhattan while on Broadway."

(I think I'm pretty cool for just being able to say I've seen a play on Broadway.)

I also love the Tribune review of Oliver! written by theater critic Chris Jones, who goes out of his way to explain that you can't ever say kids' performances are great, because readers will just think you're being nice. So I've just got to believe him when he says the cast of Oliver! is "incredible."

Jones says Rodriguez "actually treats this spunky character as the kid Dickens intended."

High praise, indeed.

I've only just traded emails with Rodriguez' dad and mom, but sometimes you can just tell—they seem like really nice, down-to-earth people, and JD comes off the same way in the numerous articles written about him. Here are links to a couple good ones in the Kane County Chronicle and the Chicago Tribune.

In the meantime, you can check out JD's performance in Oliver! through June 2, and on June 9, start popping the popcorn as you sit down to watch Batavia's 12-year-old Broadway veteran light up the Radio Music Hall stage.

As J.D.'s dad said in an email: "Go, Bulldogs!"