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Health & Fitness

Senior Spotlight: Karl Amundson

With five weeks left until graduation, we will feature two senior spotlights each week. Today, we highlight Karl Amundson, who plays the lead in the MHS spring musical.

Written by Barb VanPilsum

Karl Amundson, currently playing the lead role of Radames in Aida, used to play a lot of basketball.  His parents had to coax him into trying out for a play in fifth grade, and, after being cast as an urchin in Northfield High’s production of Oliver, an artist was born.  Karl went on to be the only child cast in the Children’s Theatre Company production of Babe the Sheep Pig.  Here, Karl began to seriously develop his acting and physical performance skills. 

Karl says he started singing right out of the womb, inspired by his St. Olaf orchestra director father and musical mother and sister.  Although his home and family are in Northfield, Karl transferred to Minnetonka last year after reading about its theatre program.  He lives with his aunt and uncle during the school week and commutes home most weekends.  Karl has made a remarkable impression on this community in a short time.  He has received Spotlight Awards for Outstanding Performance in a Supporting Role as Dickon in The Secret Garden and for Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role as Emmett in Legally Blonde.  He was also instrumental in bringing the Minnetonka one-act plays to a Star Rating at State competitions the last two years. 

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“Acting isn’t a selfish art,” Karl says. Every time he performs, he asks the question, “What can the artists do together with the audience?”  Voice coach and director John Lynn says Karl has “incredible instincts as an actor” and a “humble spirit.”  Karl will attend either the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music or Carnegie Mellon. Wherever he goes, it is a sure step on his path to Broadway.

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