A lion who found his courage lead one area teen to what now takes up much of his life — theater and music.

“Seventh grade was when my acting started. It was ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ and I had to sing,” said Will Bryant, who is now ending his junior year at North Surry High School. “How fun it felt and the response I got, I knew that’s what I wanted to do.

“That’s when it all started, and I started auditioning for plays at the Surry Arts Council.”

After performing in “Wizard,” Bryant decided to audition for the Surry Arts Council’s production of “Oklahoma.”

“I went to audition for ‘Oklahoma’ in seventh grade at the arts council, and (Sandy Beam) vocalized me and apparently he liked what he heard, so he tracked me down,” Bryant explained of how he became one of Beam’s voice students.

“I’ve been singing since eighth grade. The reason I got into it was Sandy Beam tracked me down and my mom decided we’d give it a shot,” said Bryant, who will compete in a national singing competition in New York City next weekend.

“I was like, ‘Ugh, I have to sing in front of people,’ but it grew on me,” he said. “I had a love for acting and I found out that 50 to 75 percent of actors need to sing.”

Since he first began acting and singing, Bryant has performed in numerous roles on the stage at the Andy Griffith Playhouse. He recently completed a role in “The Fantasticks” and is contemplating auditioning for “Cats” this week.

Between singing, acting and school work, Bryant follows a grueling schedule — Mondays include practices with Voce, the local community choir Beam directs, and piano lessons; Tuesdays are play rehearsals; Wednesdays are voice lessons and sometimes choir rehearsal at First Presbyterian Church in Mount Airy; Thursdays again include play rehearsals; and then weekends and Fridays tend to be performances or some other event. He also is a member of North Surry High School’s chorus.

Bryant’s entrance into vocal competitions began his freshman year of high school when he placed second at the state and second at the regional levels of the National Association for Teachers of Singing (NATS) Competition.

“It is divided into two categories. The fall is theatrical NATS, and February is classical NATS. Sandy teaches us about three pieces. The theatrical is English, and the classical is in a foreign language. We are judged by three judges on diction, pitch and other elements,” he explained.

The first year of his NATS competition, Bryant said, “That was the year I was still singing for Sandy, because my mom made me do it.

“I wasn’t putting any passion in it the first years, but Sandy explained, why would you be singing if you aren’t trying to put on a performance or tell a story,” he said. “So he helped me a lot with that.”

Next weekend’s competition is the High School Classical Singer Competition. Bryant competed in round one at Converse College in Columbia, S.C., where he placed first among the vocal students, male and female, who were from several surrounding states.

The New York competition Bryant is participating in May 29 and 30 are the finals for the contest and will be held at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square.

Beam explained that Bryant will again be competing against male and female vocalists. In addition to the competition, he will have the opportunity to visit workshops and talk with colleges and universities.

The songs Bryant sang at Commerce College were two of his classical NATS pieces, one in English and one in Italian.

“I just sing the songs and do the best I can,” Bryant said. “There will be a college expo and I will go to master classes where people critique each other’s singing and give pointers and tips.”

The winner of the competition receives a $1,500 cash prize, and more than $2 million in scholarship offers are available to competition participants, according to the Web site on the competition.

The New York part of the competition includes three rounds. The top 30 to 35 singers will advance from the May 29 competition to the semifinals; then the top 10 singers in the semifinals will move on to the finals. The three top finalists will receive cash prizes.

This will be Bryant’s second trip to New York with Beam. This time his family is joining him, and they will be staying on a few days as an opportunity to vacation and see the city.

“I’m trying to get my school work done early, because we come back June 3 and my first exam is June 4,” he said.

Once he finishes high school course work, Bryant said he will be applying to colleges where he intends to major or minor in theater and music, although he hasn’t decided which colleges and which interest will be the major and which will be the minor.

Bryant also plays the drums in a band with his friends. He said the drums were his first love.

He is the son of Lisa and Kenneth Bryant of Mount Airy, and his older brother, Justin, graduated from Campbell University last weekend.

Contact Wendy Byerly Wood at wbyerly-wood@mtairynews.com or 719-1923.