SALT LAKE CITY — Zack Erickson is leaning against a railing in the Regent Street Black Box at The Eccles, and he’s feeling a little worn out.
You might think he’s tired because he graduated high school only a few days ago, and he holds a part-time job, and he helps tend the animals on his parents’ small pasture, and he was the captain of both his school’s armed drill team and volleyball team. He's also playing Jean Valjean in the Jaks Theatre Company’s production of "Les Miserables," and he’s been waking up at the break of dawn and going to bed late for at least a year to be able to do it all.
But no, that’s not why he's tired. Today, the 18-year-old is tired from working out. Erickson, who enlisted in the Air Force in December, is getting ready for basic training — and to make good on his plans to be a hero.
“I always like to push myself and go for something that not everybody can do,” Erickson said. “I like doing hands-on things more than staying home and studying.”
There are two things Erickson has always wanted to do: join the military, and play Jean Valjean. As divergent as those two goals are, Erickson has devoted considerable energy toward accomplishing them. Ever since he was old enough to talk, Erickson let his mom know he wanted to be a soldier. When his family moved to Layton in 2013, the teenager did some research and found a military school that would be perfect for him. It was a little unusual for a 15-year-old to sign himself up for military school, but Erickson’s parents agreed to his plans, and they watched him thrive at the Utah Military Academy, a charter school in Riverdale that employs retired military veterans and others with military experience to utilize military culture in an academic setting.
Erickson earned mostly A’s, and he gained a reputation for being the kind of guy who will take anyone under his wing. He was named drill commander of the school’s five-time state champion armed drill team, and by the time he graduated, he had worked his way up to Cadet Vice Wing Commander, the second-highest position out of the 300 cadets at his school.
“He has a lot of cadets, freshmen, and younger even, who look at him and say, 'When I am a senior, that is who I want to be,'” said Major Chad Wright, one of Erickson’s school instructors and mentors.
Over his time at Utah Military Academy, Erickson decided he wanted to become an Air Force Special Ops Pararescue specialist. The job is essentially performing combat search and rescue, saving airmen who have been injured in the line of duty.
The job is dangerous and demanding, and Erickson is trying to achieve the fitness requirements necessary to begin basic training in August to become a parajumper. He needs to do 19 pullups and 100 pushups in two minutes, and right now he’s about halfway there. Playing Jean Valjean requires a lot of energy on its own, but Erickson doesn't plan on stopping. For him, there's too much at stake.
“He kind of has that heroic vibe,” said Capt. Joshua Curtis, another of Erickson’s instructors. “I truly feel that Zack, wanting to be an officer and wanting to perform, it isn’t for the accolades of others. It is so that he can see those who are sad smile. And he wants to help those in pain feel better. He wants to see those around him be better.”
That drive to make people laugh is part of what propelled Erickson to musical theater in the first place, says his mother, Tiffani Erickson. Over the years, her son played Prince Eric in "The Little Mermaid," the Tin Man in "The Wiz" and the dentist and Audrey II in "Little Shop of Horrors."
This year, as she watched her son take so much on, she worried he wouldn’t be able to do it all — that he wouldn’t have enough time to be himself, to be a kid, and that his drive would break him. So she made him sign a contract: If his grades dropped, he would need to drop something from his schedule. Sure enough, he graduated with straight A’s this year.
“School has taught him leadership and service, and the theater company has taught him confidence to be able to face whatever is thrown at him,” she said. “Between the two, I think it’s just a good combination that has helped push him to greater heights of confidence.”
That confidence is part of what convinced Jaks Theatre Company Producer Beth Thomas that of the 58 kids in the production — and three separate casts that will perform — Erickson is the only one who can play Jean Valjean. So the ambitious 18-year-old will perform 12 shows in eight days.
The pleasure Erickson gets from making people smile shows itself during a recent technical rehearsal. He briefly breaks character, flipping his tie over his shoulder during a tense moment. The audience laughs, and Erickson’s face lights up with a grin. The light dims, and the moment passes.
“I don’t know if there is another kid his age who works as hard as he does,” Thomas said. “He is always on. He isn’t doing it for his mom, or for the accolades, he just keeps going for himself.”
If you go …
What: "Les Miserables," by the Jaks Theatre Company
When: May 31-June 8, times vary
Where: Regent Street Black Box at The Eccles, 144 Regent St.
How much: $8-$12, with a $1 discount for military
Phone: 801-355-ARTS