The 23-year-old Willow Glen resident is a member of the Brigadoon ensemble cast at Foothill College Musical Theater.

Though he has only been on stage for a year, Carlson developed an interest in musical theater as a young boy. He grew up listening to his parents' records of Oliver, Oklahoma and My Fair Lady.

"I fell in love with the musicals," he said.

This interest led the home-schooled boy to take a drama class from Michele Johnson, a long-time Willow Glen resident who recently moved after she married. She plays the female lead, Fiona, in Brigadoon.

Carlson, a San José State University theater arts major, calls Johnson his inspiration and is glad to have the chance to work with her.

However, Carlson almost missed the chance to work with her in Brigadoon because he was studying in England when auditions took place.

Then he received a call from Johnson who said there were still some openings for men. He jumped at the opportunity.

Johnson is full of praises for Carlson. She says Carlson is passionate about the theater and when they needed someone for Brigadoon, she thought of him right away.

Brigadoon is a tale about a town in Scotland enchanted by a spell centuries ago. The community remained unchanging and invisible to the outside world except for one special day every hundred years, when it could be seen and visited by outsiders. Visitors are allowed to stay, but if anyone ever left Brigadoon, the spell would be broken and the town would disappear forever.

This becomes a problem when a tourist, Tommy, happens upon the town and falls in love with Fiona, one of the residents. If she leaves, she dooms her relatives and friends; if he chooses to stay he has to leave his world.

The performance requires a cast of 50 members. The sheer size of the cast led Carlson to fear he would not know most of his co-performers. Instead he has formed quite a number of friendships through the time together during rehearsal--four nights a week and on Saturdays.

The play opened on July 22, and the cast puts on four performances a week. The cast also socializes outside of rehearsals and performances, sometimes going out for pizza.

Carlson says the actors in Brigadoon remind him of the cast in last year's play, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. It was his first role in a musical and his said the camaraderie is similar.

Carlson, who also works at Hicklebee's, a children's bookstore in Willow Glen, says though he likes performing on stage he prefers the technical side of the theater.

"I am thinking about doing set design," he says.

Brigadoon runs through Aug. 14 in the Smithwick Theater at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills. Evening performances are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Matinees are Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $24 for general admission, $22 for seniors, $18 for students and $10 for children under age 12 (parental guidance advised).