When Grant Gelt first auditioned for Broadway`s ”Lost in Yonkers,” he was the right kid at the wrong time. Playwright Neil Simon had seen Grant in the movie ”Avalon” (he plays the kid who accidentally sets fire to the warehouse) and called him to try out for ”Yonkers.”
”I was only 10,” Grant says. ”Neil said, `We have to wait for you to grow into the part, but don`t worry, you will do `Yonkers.` ”
Simon`s promise comes true Wednesday night. Grant, now 12, hits the Royal George Theatre stage for the Pulitzer Prize-winning play`s Chicago premiere. Grant plays smart aleck Arty, the younger of two brothers taken care of by a cranky grandmother.
Though Grant grew up in Hollywood, he comes across as the kid next door. Wearing round, wire-rimmed glasses, the freckle-faced actor snarfs down a pancake in a North Side cafe. He chats about his sports-card collection and fave bands Warrant, Guns N` Roses and Red Hot Chili Peppers. (”I`m a total metalhead,” he says.)
”Yonkers” is Grant`s first play outside of school. But he got hooked with a first-grade production of ”Alice in Wonderland.”
”After the show opened and ended in two days, I`m thinking, `Hey, this is awesome. I really want to do this.` ”
Soon he had an agent and a career. ”Avalon” was his first movie.
”When my dad told me I had gotten `Avalon,` I felt, `Yes! I finally did something cool.` ”
Grant has appeared in ”Marked for Death” with Steven Seagal, and he plays a Little Leaguer in the upcoming ”The Sandlot.” Also, his voice pops up in Steven Spielberg`s ”Hook.” (Listen for his line, ”Think happy thoughts, Peter.”)
But acting isn`t all glamour and glory. In a never-aired TV pilot for
”Revenge of the Nurds,” Grant says, ”I was carried by a jock with underwear over my head in front of an audience. That was just really embarrassing.”
