Newtown Middle School eighth grader Cooper McLaughlin returned home Sunday, September 20, with stars in his eyes and stars on his mind — famous stars, that is, like actor Alec Baldwin, comic Jim Gaffigan, actor/director Jim Naughton, and Broadway performer Cody Williams.

Mr Baldwin and the others were among the big names with whom Cooper had the pleasure of working and hob-nobbing with, from Wednesday, September 16 through Saturday, September 19, as one of 11 young people from the region selected to perform at the annual Fandango Benefit Gala at the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, in Ashford, Conn.

Cooper has been a camper at Hole in the Wall Gang Camp for three summers. The Connecticut camp, founded by late actor Paul Newman, offers a fun and safe camp experience for seriously ill children. Now in remission, Cooper has Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), a blood disorder causing a severe drop in his platelet level. This can result in excessive bleeding or bruising.

“When his platelets are too low,” explained Cooper’s mother, Lorraine McLaughlin, “he can’t go to a regular camp. If he were to get cut or scraped, he might bleed severely, like a hemophiliac.” Her son’s doctors at Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital were the ones to recommend Hole in the Wall Gang Camp to the McLaughlins, and it has been a wonderful option, Ms McLaughlin said.

“I could go to regular camp, if I wanted,” Cooper disagreed slightly with his mother, “but Hole in the Wall Gang is the best place in the world.”

This past summer, at the end-of-session “Stage Night,” Cooper and another camper performed a dance-off. His break dancing and “popping and locking” moves caught the eyes of Gala organizers. In August, they contacted the McLaughlins, inviting Cooper to be part of a select group of youth entertaining guests at the camp’s largest fundraiser for the year, the Fandango Gala.

Cooper had also made a name for himself the previous summers, writing and performing original songs for the end-of-session performances.

A Special Events Team selected Cooper to be in the Gala, said camp spokesperson, Beth Starkin. “The team attends stage night for each summer session to cheer on our campers and identify those who may be a good fit for our Gala. Cooper performed in several of Stage Night acts this session. He had amazing energy and enthusiasm for singing and dancing, both of which are key elements to the Gala performance,” she said.

“There are a lot of really talented kids at camp,” said Cooper, so he was honored to receive this invitation.

“I’ve always liked to perform, since I was little,” he added, “and became more interested when I was about 12 years old.”

He has taken voice from local instructors Jim Allyn and Maggie Heilweil, and has been a student at the Monroe Dance Academy. Currently, he attends the Southbury Performing Arts Center, and is taking piano at Julie’s Piano Studio, in Sandy Hook.

He had a speaking part as a guard in the NMS spring 2015 production of Shrek, and this past summer, appeared in the chorus for the 12.14 Foundation performance of Liberty Smith. Cooper also had the part of one of the menacing hyenas in the second 12.14 Foundation production in August, Lion King, Jr.

Those were wonderful experiences, said Cooper, but the past few days he had experienced were over the top.

Rehearsals began under the direction of Mr Naughton on Thursday morning, heralding the start of three intense days of practice at the Hole in the Wall Gang theater.

The rehearsals lasted all day, with an evening break, followed by a final evening rehearsal. “We worked with a lot of professionals. I was really, really tired each night,” Cooper said.

Rehearsals involved tutoring from Ryan Fielding Garrett, music director and pianist for The Fandango Band, with choreography under the direction of Lindsay Moore, in addition to input from other seasoned performers.

It was exciting to mingle with stars like Alec Baldwin, who emceed the night’s auction and took time to visit briefly with the student performers, said Cooper. Mostly, Mr Baldwin had to keep his distance, though, said Ms McLaughlin, as he was suffering from a cold.

Cooper also loved meeting comic Jim Gaffigan, who was another draw for the benefit’s event. “It was fun to be with famous actors and meet them. It was really cool,” Cooper said.

Performing is one of the things the 14-year-old most enjoys. It is hard work, he said, to stick with it and stay focused, “But it all pays off at the end,” he said.

The Fandango Benefit Gala performance had a “post office theme,” Ms McLaughlin said, honoring the issuance of the new Paul Newman stamp, this past Friday. Cooper and his fellow performers entertained the theater crowd of nearly 200, Saturday night (plus hundreds more able to view it on the big screen in the mess hall), dancing and singing to “Mr Postman,” “Signed, Sealed, Delivered,” and the “Fight Song.” Cooper was pleased to be given a solo in “Fight Song” and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.”

A post-performance party gave Cooper a chance to mingle with more famous people, and enjoy the live band and huge spread of food.

“It was just amazing,” he said of the three days of preparation and performing. “There was a lot of help and support. We’re really a ‘gala’ family,” Cooper said.

His mother agreed, and added, “The thing about Hole in the Wall Gang, is that everyone there always has a smile on their face. And they’re as supportive of the parents as they are of the kids.”

This year’s Gala raised more than $1.2 million for the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp’s year-round programming, said Ms Starkin.

The experience has only increased Cooper’s desire to pursue a career in television and film, one day. In the meantime, he’ll continue with theater classes locally and take advantage of other opportunities that come his way, always treasuring the memory of the Fandango Benefit Gala.

“It was a really, really good experience,” he said.