From Bethesda Elementary to Broadway

By Janet Cawley
From the July 2005 issue

Bethesda's most frequent flyer has to be 12-year-old actor Henry Hodges, who twice every evening soars out over Broadway audiences in an airborne automobile named Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Henry plays Jeremy Potts, a winsome lad who sings, dances, and, with his eccentric family, outwits bumbling villains.

"He has a beautiful young voice and an extraordinary enthusiasm," says Raśl Esparza, who plays Henry's father.

For Henry, it's been a straight-if very short-shot from Bethesda Elementary School to Times Square. Barely four when he launched his acting career in commercials-he sang his ABCs for his first audition-he went on to play Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol at Ford's Theatre and to appear in four operas at the Kennedy Center.

While in third grade, Henry won the starring part of Chip the teacup in the touring company of Beauty and the Beast, and he hit the road with mom Jane while his dad, James, a corporate headhunter, and older sister Charly stayed behind in Bethesda with his pooch, Pucci. Next stop Broadway, where he played Chip for 18 months before taking on the part in Chitty, which opened April 28.

In a sunny apartment near the theater with his mother, pet mouse Scabbers, and a Siamese fighting fish named Chewy, Henry studies with his mother and a tutor (favorite subject: science) and builds remote-control cars for fun.