by Suzanne Hadley

Twelve-year-old Nick Jonas lights up a room. Whether he’s performing songs from his upcoming CD, portraying a mischievous teacup on Broadway or exchanging high fives with inner-city kids, Nick’s love for God radiates on those around him.

Last December hundreds of kids from inner city Patterson, New Jersey, swarmed into a crowded community center to receive Christmas presents. The Radicals, a kids’ ministry group from Nick’s church, led worship, performed skits and invited the children to receive the best Christmas present — Jesus Christ.

Dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, Nick walked on stage and said, “It doesn’t matter if the world is pulling you down. “With Christ you have everything.”

Born Performer

Nick has always felt comfortable holding a mike. When Nick was 2, he climbed on top of a coffee table and started singing into his grandma's turkey baster as a mike. When his grandma warned him to get down, he said, “No, Grandma, I need to practice. I’m going to be on Broadway.”

In kindergarten while his friends laughed at cartoons, Nick watched musicals. “I watched ‘Peter Pan’ five times a day,” he says. “I would watch every single movement — the dancing, how they acted, how their mouths moved when they sang.”

His interest in theater led him to start a church drama group when he was 6. With the help of some friends and a plastic bin of costumes, he put on skits for the younger children.

The drama team proved so successful that children’s church leader Kiyoko Kibbel encouraged Nick to make it an official group called The Radicals. Mrs. Kibbel (the kids call her Coach K) trained the team in worship and drama.

“Children have a powerful way to reach children,” Coach K says. “Children listen to what other children have to say.”

The Radicals do six outreaches a year, and so far more than 600 kids have accepted Christ.

Star Power

Nick started using his talents in church, but God had a bigger audience in mind. One day as Nick sang at the barbershop, a woman overheard and told Nick’s mom about a Broadway manager.

Nick and his older brother Joseph auditioned for the manager and landed parts in Broadway shows. Nick was 7 when he played Tiny Tim in “A Christmas Carol.” The next year, he played Little Jake in “Annie Get Your Gun,” starring country singer Reba McIntire. And the year after that, he played the teacup, Chip, in “Beauty and the Beast.”

“It’s awesome; I love everything about it,” he says of performing on Broadway. “It’s so exciting to go on stage every day — to sing a song and know 1,500 people are watching!”

Broadway gave Nick a new place to shine. His mom began home schooling her sons so they’d have time for the demands of the stage. In the many hours Nick spent at the theater, he looked for ways to encourage fellow cast members.

“It’s exciting just to be with somebody and try my hardest to get them to know about Jesus,” he says.

As Nick was about to sign a contract to play Chip for another 6 months, God steered him in another direction.

“I was at Bible camp,” Nick remembers, “and I felt God saying, ‘You’re going to be in “Les Miserables” and touch many people.’ ”

The next week Nick received a phone call offering him the part of Gavroche in “Les Miserables,” Broadway’s second longest running show. Nick’s bio in the program, which was read by thousands, proclaimed, “All thanks to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Heart for Change

While Nick made his run on Broadway, he spent 40 hours a week rehearsing, performing and traveling to and from New York City.

During one trip he saw a homeless family on the street and wondered how he could help. Nick’s dad, Kevin, suggested starting a foundation to help needy children. In 2002 Nick started the Nicholas Jonas Change for the Children Foundation to help poor, homeless and terminally ill children.

This past Christmas, Nick helped organize a toy drive for the Patterson outreach and gave money and presents to an unemployed single mother with three young children.

“It was pretty amazing to see those kids’ faces,” he says. “I felt blessed I could do it.”

Beyond Broadway

Early in Nick’s Broadway career, he was asked to sing a Christmas song for a benefit CD. Nick and his dad wrote a song called “Joy to the World: A Christmas Prayer.”

An executive from Sony Music heard it and sent the single to radio. The song received such a positive response that Columbia Records signed Nick and his brothers to make an album.

Nick, older brothers Joseph, 15, and Kevin, 17, along with their dad, wrote eight of the 11 songs on the CD. Nick says ideas for the songs came from everyday events. They wrote “Time For Me to Fly” on the way home from a Michael W. Smith concert where Nick was inspired by the performer.

Even Nick’s 4-year-old brother, Frankie, seems to have the music bug. “He’s doomed,” Nick says, laughing. “The other day he sat down at the piano and said, ‘I’m writing a song.’ ”

Having his songs on the radio has given Nick new opportunities. Last fall he sang to commemorate September 11 for delegates at the United Nations. And he continues to gain support for his foundation.

Nick’s favorite verse is Matthew 5:14: “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.”

Nick takes that mission seriously, whether he’s serving in church or lighting up the stage. “I just want to do whatever the Lord has planned for me to do,” he says.

Visit Nicholas Jonas' Web site for more information on the release of his CD and Nicholas Jonas Change for the Children.

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