Downers Grove’s Ava Doty to play Tiny Tim at Goodman Theatre in Chicago

Goodman Theatre, a Chicago entertainment institution, is familiar territory to Ava Rose Doty, 8, of Downers Grove, who impressed audiences last summer playing 4-year-old Tommy in “The Who’s Tommy” rock opera. She’s back this holiday season to take on the part of Tiny Tim in “A Christmas Carol.”

It’s a role she is scheduled to play in all but one Goodman performance of the beloved Charles Dickens work running Nov. 16 through Dec. 30.

This writer had the pleasure of watching Ava mesmerize the audience in the electrifying, high-tech “Tommy” with her acting and exquisite voice in the Broadway-bound revival that broke box-office records for Goodman.

She now looks forward to appearing in “A Christmas Carol,” helmed by returning director Jessica Thebus, with Christopher Donahue in his first year as Ebenezer Scrooge.

“It’s really exciting,” said Ava, who hadn’t seen the Goodman’s annual classic before. “It’s going to be a great experience. I already love the cast. … [Jessica Thebus] is just a great director, and she’s really nice. And she works with kids really well.”

Ava said she enjoyed the experience of working with the Tony Award-winning director of “Tommy,” Des McAnuff, and getting to meet The Who’s Pete Townshend, who wrote the music and lyrics for “Tommy” at age 23. McAnuff and the choreographer presented all the young performers in the show with ukuleles.

“That’s how Des learned to play the guitar; [his] hope was kids [would] rock out like Pete Townshend,” said Ava’s mother, Erin Doty.

Townshend came to the closing night party and signed the ukuleles, as well as a “Tommy” poster to gift to The Who fan Tom Harrington of Downers Grove, Ava’s grandfather.

As for appearing in the hit show, Ava said, “It was amazing – we were all so excited that it was going to Broadway and we all knew.”

McAnuff coined a nickname for young Ava, calling her Ava Gardner, an actress during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Ava had to Google her name to catch the reference.

“I started theater when I was 5,” said Ava, who now has a manager in New York and an agent in Chicago. “I started doing [what] my sister [Aubrey] used to do when she was about my age, how she got into theater.”

Ava’s first role was playing a dwarf in a children’s production of “Shrek The Musical” in Western Springs. Her second was playing Young Cosette in “Les Misérables” with BAMtheatre of Hinsdale. She’s appeared as Gretl in “The Sound of Music” twice, once sharing the stage with her sister at Wagon Wheel Theatre in Indiana, her first professional, regional show. She auditioned for “Tommy” at age 6.

Some of Ava’s other credits include “Carousel” with Music Theater Works, “The Music Man” with Metropolis, “A Christmas Carol” at Drury Lane, the film “Ghostlight” and a new animated show, “Wonder Pets: In the City,” which will premiere on Apple TV + on Dec. 13.

“I am playing a bear cub [in] the episode I’m in – she doesn’t want to hibernate for the winter,” she said of her voice-over role in the revival of the Nickelodeon show.

She also appears as the youngest member of the family in the three-minute Coca-Cola commercial titled “New Guy,” directed by Christopher Storer, creator of the Hulu series “The Bear.” Aired during the Emmys, the entertaining ad was inspired by the show’s famous holiday party episode.

What else fills Ava’s schedule?

“I take dance a couple of times a week … gymnastics … voice lessons,” primarily on Mondays, when “the theater is dark,” she said.

In New York City, she has attended theater training intensives by Broadway Kids Auditions, and sang Sondheim’s “Broadway Baby” at The Green Room 42 cabaret.

Given Ava’s professional commitments, her mother said she appreciates the accommodating flexibility of St. Joan of Arc School in Lisle, as well as Elevate Dance Experience in Naperville and Premier Gymnastics Academy in Downers Grove. Ava will take a pause with Girl Scouts during the Goodman run.

“The school’s been very supportive [and] gracious,” Erin Doty said. “She makes up anything she’s missed.”

The dance training will be put to use in “A Christmas Carol,” in which Ava also plays a school child as well as the representation of Want. Characters will be waltzing in a flashback Fezziwig scene, Ava said.

To prepare for the role of Tiny Tim, she has worked on growing comfortable with Tim’s crutch and on how to convey the spirit he brings to the story.

“I had to really get into the character,” Ava said. “They don’t have much money, but he’s still really happy, really hopeful. … I love it.”

“It’s really, really fun,” she said of working with fellow cast members including Bob Cratchit (Anthony Irons) and the whole Cratchit family.

Irons is familiar from appearances in “Chicago P.D.” and sister television shows. His real-life son also is part of the Goodman cast this holiday season.

The Goodman staff has provided exceptionally nice people who take care of the young professionals, like Ava, said her mom about the young performer supervisors.

“The Goodman is so gracious with these kids … and [there’s] the level of professionalism,” Erin Doty said in praise. “As a parent especially, I have so much love to give that theater and that team. They’re just phenomenal. … She’s very, very blessed to have been a part of all of that.”

The theater excused Ava from the Halloween day rehearsal so she could go trick-or-treating. Of course, she and her friend dressed as musical theater characters: Glinda and Elphaba from “Wicked,” respectively.

Ava’s schedule demands a lot of organization, Erin Doty said, adding, “She’s very disciplined. We have folders for any auditions. She’s still auditioning.”

To help ensure the show goes on, the family makes sure Ava’s hydrated, rested, eats good meals and takes health supplements.

“This is a job,” Erin Doty said. “She’s got to take it seriously. She has a big commitment once the holidays start. She’s committed and she loves it and she knows she’s got bigger dreams ahead.”

“As a parent, I work full-time,” Doty added. “I do HR [human resources)] for a living. We have another child as well. My husband [works and travels]. There’s a lot of balancing and schedule coordination, and partnering with other parents in the business as well as in the community. I would say I’m a very good multitasker. I embrace the chaos. … She’s got a dream and I want to support it.”

What’s on Ava’s horizon?

“If they do [‘Annie’] again, I would love to be Molly; I just had a Disney audition and a lot of television, [theater] and voice-over auditions,” Ava says, stars in her eyes.

Meanwhile, she invites audiences to come see “A Christmas Carol,” noting, “I know it’s going to be a good one.”

IF YOU GO

• WHAT: 47th annual “A Christmas Carol”

• WHERE: Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago

• WHEN: Nov. 16 through Dec. 30

• INFORMATION: 312-443-3800, goodmantheatre.org