News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Some Sisters youths show their talent at the Deschutes County Fair by riding horses, others by raising sheep or pigs.
Nathan Woodworth, 15, showed his by becoming a donkey. And an ogre. And Captain Jack Sparrow.
Woodworth does impressions and impersonations - and he was such a hit with judges in the fair's talent show that he has a shot at competing at the State Fair in Salem at the end of this month.
"I do voices ranging from Gollum to John Wayne," Woodworth told The Nugget (in his own voice... we assume). "I do Shrek (and Donkey), Sylvester Stallone, Mickey Mouse, Captain Jack."
"He has about 50 voices," Nathan's mother Lisa said. "He only did 17 for the county fair because they only allow about seven minutes."
Woodworth was one of two adult winners of the talent contest, which draws hundreds of entries from across the region. He was unable due to another commitment to attend the Saturday night event where one of the winners is chosen to go to State.
He has petitioned to be selected in one of the six "at large" slots, and it appears that he has a very good chance of going.
That would be a nice stepping stone for Woodworth, who has ambitions to make performing a career.
"My dream would be to open a show in Vegas -go on tour or something," he said.
The home-schooled student is active in theater at Sisters High School and also participates in band. His mom says that he loves anything to do with drama.
Why impressions?
"I just started doing it one day," Woodworth said. "It just seemed like something not many people do. I just have always had a knack for imitating people."
Woodworth has received technical and career advice from another guy with a knack for imitating people: legendary impressionist Rich Little. Little has an archive of voices that allows Woodworth to learn a voice without having to watch a movie over and over again - though he does that, too, when necessary.
"Some voices,like Mickey Mouse, I pick up in a minute," he said. "Others, like Jimmy Stewart, it takes me three years to learn - and I'm still perfecting it."
Woodworth plans to keep honing his craft as he follows his dream from a stage in Central Oregon to the bright lights of the Strip.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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