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Is your son or daughter just dying to be in show business? Does he or she have talent that you've seen on the elementary school stage or heard when they're singing in the shower?

As a bona fide stage mother, I can perhaps provide you with some cautionary advice and support. My son, who's 17 now, has been a "show business" kid since he was about eight, bitten by the bug after appearing in a regional Christmas musical. Since then, he has appeared in dozens of stage productions, both at his high school and in regional theater groups in suburban New York. At times, the rewards have been so great they are difficult to measure. At other times, the experience has both frustrated and humbled him.

Like anything else in life, you have to be prepared to watch your child experience both extreme highs and extreme lows as they test the waters of a very competitive arena.

Know first that children and adolescents who want to be in show business will require just as much of your time as those who play Little League ball or take piano lessons. It is likely to cost you more money, however, since many show business kids eventually realize that they have a better chance of landing a role if they've had lessons: voice, acting, dance. My son took voice lessons from a kind, funny gentleman who played Tony in the first national tour of "West Side Story," and the decision to drive him every Saturday morning to the lessons was a critical one. His voice coach gave him the self-confidence he needed to push ahead with his dreams and take his voice outside the confines of the shower.

Begin slowly, and let them take the lead. My son often wavered, especially when he was a pre-teen, deciding one day that show business wasn't cool, and then asking the next day if I would drive him to an audition. His interest in the stage was cemented when he was a high school freshman and auditioned for a well-regarded childrens/teens theater group and landed a part in Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Cinderella." It was his first taste of real musical theater, produced on a real stage, with fellow cast members who were as passionate as he was about this show business thing. During this production, he befriended kids who had already been on Broadway or traveled in national tours, others who had played Disney characters at birthday parties, still others you have most likely seen in a variety of national television commercials. He became better at memorizing lines, knowing his cues, listening closely to the director, and

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