For Lynbrook native David Kaid, performing on stage has always offered him something that everyday life couldn’t always guarantee — freedom to be himself.
As a child growing up, Kaid struggled with communicating and socially interacting with others, but when he began to perform, those worries seemed to disappear.
“When I was on stage, there was something that, like the communication problems or whatever worries I had at the time would kind of go away,” Kaid said. “I can put my all into something bigger than me.”
Now a professional actor and singer-songwriter, Kaid, 22, who graduated from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in May, has spent much of his life discovering what it means to express himself through art.
His journey has taken him from Lynbrook school performances to Carnegie Hall, professional acting opportunities and the release of his latest single, “Insomnia,” on Oct. 22.
But behind those accomplishments is a story of personal growth, self-doubt and learning to trust his abilities.
Kaid, who performed under the name David Padilla as a child, began playing piano by ear at age 3 and participating in musical theater at age 4. His first stage role came a year later, playing an Oompa Loompa in Way, Way Off Broadway’s production of “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”
Diagnosed at a young age with PDD-NOS, a developmental condition on the autism spectrum, Kaid found that performing helped him navigate communication and social challenges.
His mother initially encouraged him to try theater because he often spoke in a whisper, hoping it would help him project his voice and speak more confidently, according to an earlier Herald interview.
While attending Lynbrook South Middle School, Kaid participated in choir and musical theater. He also performed with Lynbrook’s Plaza Theatrical Productions, gradually moving from background roles to larger parts.
He credited Lynbrook schools with helping him, including Steven Freifeld, a retired Marion Street Elementary School teacher, and Annie Pasqua, a former Lynbrook South chorus teacher.
Freifeld was someone he could confide in, while Pasqua helped nurture his love of singing and musical theater, Kaid said.
“She was always helping me thrive artistically and flourish,” Kaid said about Pasqua.
In 2018, Kaid and his parents moved to Merrick, where he still lives. He attended Sanford H. Calhoun High School and joined its theater program. Although the move meant leaving Lynbrook behind, music helped ease the transition.
In 2022, shortly before college, he appeared in a one-night benefit performance of “The Last Boy — A New Play with Music” at The Town Hall in Manhattan. Kaid performed in the ensemble and understudied the lead role, an experience he described as one of the greatest highlights of his life.
Attending the Manhattan event were his family and closest friends, including one friend who skipped a tennis event to see him perform.
“I felt like all the doors were opening for me,” Kaid said.
Far from home at the University of North carolina School of the Arts, Kaid struggled to communicate and open up during his first years at college.
Then one of his professors, Jason Bohon, saw potential in him that Kaid himself had not fully realized.
Bohon, a movement and mask professor, cast him as Louis XVI in the school’s production of “Marie Antoinette,” giving him an opportunity to take on a major role.
“I was a little wary and anxious, and he brought me in,” Kaid recalled.
“Getting to play that role with so many talented actors and creatives lit a fire that was in me,” he said.
During college, Kaid performed in several other productions, including “Appropriate,” “A Little Night Music,” and “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812.”
His newest single, “Insomnia,” which follows his earlier original songs “Spellbound” and “More Than Friends,” grew out of nights when he found himself unable to sleep, turning those feelings into an energetic, guitar-driven song.
Kaid wrote and composed the track, played most of its instruments and worked with his friend Logan Pollak during recording.
“I was always concerned with structure and doing things by the books,” he said, adding that his training taught him to trust his own process rather than overthink every decision.
He even kept certain imperfections in the recording, believing they made the music feel more authentic.
His passion for music also has extended beyond performing.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Kaid organized “Spread Love, Sing Songs,” a collaborative concert project inspired by his grandfather, who was living in a senior care facility.
With residents separated from loved ones, Kaid recruited friends and teachers to record musical performances, which he assembled into a concert video and distributed to care facilities.
“I wanted the music to brighten the days of people in a cloudy time,” he said.
Kaid’s continuing to pursue acting opportunities while exploring where his original music might take him.
After years of learning how to communicate, perform and meet the expectations of others, he is finding confidence in making his own creative choices.
And the stage, which once helped a young boy overcome his fears, remains a place where he can be himself.
