Will Ray can thank his mother, and a bet, for his career. The Kenosha native is currently starring as J.M. Barrie, the author of the original Peter Pan, in the National Broadway Touring Company production of Finding Neverland.
Ray says he was an athlete in high school - he was captain of the football team and he ran track - but he also liked to sing and was in choir. So when auditions were posted for the fall production of Carousel, he said his mother made him an offer he couldn't refuse: "My mom was like, 'I'll pay you twenty dollars to audition.' I dare you to, basically."
Did he take her up on it? "I said, 'alright, I'll do that. Give me twenty bucks and I'll do it."
And the rest, as they say, is history.
Finding Neverlandis at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts through this weekend.