Tennis injury drives Aurora teen to the theater
At 16, most teenagers aspire to little more than a driver's license, something to go driving in, and, maybe, a decent SAT score. Maybe.
Teen actor Bubba Weiler of Aurora, currently appearing in the Steel Beam Theatre play "Rabbit Hole" in St. Charles, has higher aspirations: a career in theater.
The funny thing is that not so long ago Weiler had a different dream, that of becoming a ranked tennis star. And it wasn't so wild a dream.
"I have been a tennis player since I was 6," Weiler says, adding that from almost the beginning he was heading toward major competitions and national rankings.
"My family is big in tennis," he adds. "My mom is a tennis coach."
By the time he was 10, he was touring the nation competing. Then, when he was 12, the unthinkable happened.
"I was hit in the eye with a tennis ball and blinded in that eye," Weiler says. "I lost the central vision in my right eye. I had to take a year off. And once you take a year off in tennis, you lose all your rankings."
He had been doing amateur theater since he was little. But after his accident, he suddenly found himself at home with nothing to do. His mother sent Weiler, who always liked singing, to voice lessons.
"After about three months of those classes my voice teacher sent me to an audition for 'Oliver!' at the Marriott Theatre," Weiler says.
He landed a role in the chorus. Since then he has appeared in productions at Writers' Theater, Victory Gardens, Chicago Shakespeare and the Goodman.
His current role is that of Jason, a young man entangled in the lives of the four family members at the center of David Lindsay-Abaire's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, "Rabbit Hole." Jason is involved in an accident that claims the life of the family's son.
"Jason is a pretty smart kid," Weiler says. "Seventeen years old. Without giving too much away, Jason is dealing with a lot of things a 17-year-old shouldn't have to deal with, but he is a good kid.
"The play is very, very funny at points," he adds. "And then it will suddenly be very, very sad at points and heartfelt."
This is Weiler's first production at Steel Beam, although his family has been going there for years.
"Our family lives very close to the Steel Beam," he says. "We have been involved there for a long time; we have gotten to know Donna Steele. She came to me with the script at the end of the summer."
Weiler liked what he read.
"I am learning a lot from the play - about playwriting and about acting," he says. "It is the kind of play where you, an actor, have to shed all dishonesty and just play it."
Weiler lives for that kind of direct connection to theater.
"I just fell into theater and I love it," Weiler says. "I love it more than tennis. My accident was a blessing in disguise."
• "Rabbit Hole" runs through Feb. 7 at the Steel Beam Theatre, 111 W. Main Street, St. Charles. For tickets call (630) 587-8521 or visit the Web site at stealbeamtheatre.com.