Gunnar Engstrand is a 5th grader at Fair Oaks Elementary and has lived in FOR since May of 2020. 

His passions are both theatre and music. “Although I’ve only been acting for less than a year, I have completed 8 shows, including 2 as the youngest performer with Boerne Community Theatre's (BCT) Teen Troupe (which is usually for 13- to 19-year-olds). I’m actively involved with both BCT and the theatre group at Living Hope Church (LHC). My other hobbies include archery, Legos and Minecraft.

I was inspired to act when I realized I can be anything in theatre; acting lets you bring out characters that you didn’t know you had! As for music, I've been playing trumpet since kindergarten. Currently I play trumpet, alto and tenor saxophone, keyboard and drums. I love performing with my instruments, since third grade I have played Taps at my school's Veteran's Day ceremony.  

I only recently realized that I could sing when I hopped up on stage during a karaoke night at a hotel in Alburquerque, New Mexico this past July and belted out some songs by both the Beatles and Bruno Mars. Now I love combining voice with musical theatre at BCT.”

Gunnar has several role models. “First is my older brother, Jack who recently graduated college as a mechanical engineer. He has similar hobbies such as building LEGO's and playing Minecraft. Although musical theatre is what I hope to do professionally when I get out of school, Jack has inspired me to consider majoring in engineering when I get to college as a fallback career. 

Both Patricia Hausman, who is the Director of the Youth Programs at BCT, and Jennifer Farmer, who is not only the Musical Director of the BCT Youth Programs but is also my private voice teacher have each influenced me greatly. Also Mr. Neil Dussault, my musical instrument teacher has been an inspiration to me. I have been taking musical lessons with Mr. Neil since I was 5 years old. His recitals were where I first performed.” 

Jack is particularly proud of his achievements last summer, juggling a week-long national archery competition and 4 overlapping theatrical productions lined up back-to-back. “Each day I would sling arrows downrange for hours, then pick up a script and work on memorizing my lines in each of the plays while trying to get into the heart and soul of each character. I finished 11th in barebow recurve archery for 8- to 13-year-olds at that tournament; then my dad and stepmom drove through the night so that I would be at BCT the following morning to begin rehearsals on my first of the four overlapping plays. Despite all this juggling I was able to memorize all my lines and not mix them up. I had big roles, lots of lines, and lots of performances. At the end I knew that I successfully achieved what I set out to accomplish and because of that I learned that I could accomplish whatever I set my mind to by not allowing myself to become overwhelmed by all the work and obstacles that lay before me.”

Gunnar hopes to bring joy and happiness to people through musical theatre and song. “If I am able to make people forget about their troubles and become immersed in the fantasy of a play being acted out before them or if I can touch their soul with my music, I will know that I have made a positive impact on the world.” Gunnar’s advice to others is to never give up on chasing your star! “Whether or not you achieve a dream is not what's important. What is important is knowing that you were not afraid to put in the effort to try.”