Finding the Stage: Tim’s Journey from Shy Kid to Champion of Young Artists
In the quiet suburbs of Glen Ellyn, as afternoon light filters through the windows, Tim Soszko tends to his three-and-a-half-year-old daughter while she finishes her snack. By day, he’s a devoted stay-at-home father. But when evening falls, he transforms into something entirely different, a guide for young souls searching for their place in the world, just as he once did.
The Hermit Who Found His Voice
Tim’s story begins not with confidence, but with its absence. As a freshman at York High School, he was what he calls “such a shy kid, “imaginative but introverted, a hermit who kept his wild creativity locked away inside. He ran cross-country, hung out with friends, and lived quietly in his shell, unaware that just beneath the surface lay a performer waiting to emerge.
The transformation came unexpectedly, in the summer between his freshman and sophomore year, when he auditioned for Pirates of Penzance. What happened next changed everything.
“My world exploded,” Tim recalls. “I found out that up on stage I could be as silly and fun and imaginative as I wanted to be.” All that creativity he’d been hiding, all the wildness that felt weird and awkward in everyday life, suddenly became his superpower when the stage lights came up. The audience applauded what made him different.
But it wasn’t just the applause that transformed him. It was finding his tribe. “All of a sudden, there were all these other people who were the same as me. Just as committed, just as fun, just as silly and willing to put themselves out there.”
From that summer forward, Tim threw himself into every production York offered—three shows during the school year, one in the summer, every single one until Mr. Zunkel, the theater director, finally told him after graduation: “You’re done. You can’t. Don’t come back.”
The Long Road to Yes
After high school, Tim’s path wasn’t straight. His father, a Polish immigrant with an ironclad work ethic, was supportive but puzzled by his son’s theatrical pursuits. Tim spent a year at College of DuPage, uncertain, until a moment of clarity in a math class: “I don’t want to be here. I want to be studying theater somewhere.”
He transferred to Illinois State University, but even after graduation, the conventional path called. For five and a half years, he worked as a file clerk at an insurance company called Aeon. He hated it, but it paid the bills while he performed nights and weekends.
In 2007, Tim made the leap that would define his life: he left the insurance company to become a full-time performer, teacher, and director. His philosophy became simple but powerful: say yes to everything.
“Whatever came my way, I would say yes to,” he remembers. Teach kids poetry? Yes. Improv classes at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center? Yes. Host fundraisers? Yes. Teach three-and-a-half-year-olds to perform High School Musical? Absolutely yes.
This openness created opportunities, but more importantly, it created a network of mentors who saw Tim’s potential and helped him climb each rung of the ladder. Laura’s brother Brian was one of these angels—pushing Tim to discover he could “rock out” with his voice, not just sing classical pieces, giving him his first teaching opportunity by asking him to substitute a class at Columbia College.
“All you have to do is just play your favorite improv games,” Brian told him. Tim had never taught before, but when he stepped into that classroom, he felt the same high he’d discovered on stage. “Oh my gosh, I love this. I really liked teaching.”
Paying It Forward
Tim quickly realized he couldn’t repay all the people who had helped him along the way. So instead, he began paying it forward, seeking out students who reminded him of his younger self—the shy ones, the misfits, the kids who didn’t quite fit anywhere else.
Now, working with groups like Elmhurst Children’s Theater and the Laughing Academy in Glenview, Tim has found his calling: creating space for young people to discover their own transformations. In shows with 45 to 55 kids, he makes sure every single child has a moment to shine, even if they’re just a tree in the background.
“I don’t patronize,” he explains. “I don’t talk down. If you’re doing a good job, I’m gonna let you know. If you’re not doing what I want you to do, I’m gonna let you know that too.” But he’s also quick to stop a parent and say, “Holy cow, Eloise is killing it. She is doing so great.”
Tim has developed an eye for the kids who need him most—the ones standing alone on the first day while everyone else seems to know each other, the ones whose creativity doesn’t fit the typical molds. He has gentle ways of bringing them into the group, of making them feel seen and valued.
The Shrub That Stole the Show
One of Tim’s favorite stories involves a girl in the ensemble of Spamalot who didn’t have a featured moment. He created a part for her: the shrub. What started as a small role grew into something magical—a dance solo, a character that became so memorable that audience members would leave talking about “the shrub” above all else.
“When I asked her, ‘Hey, would you be the shrub?’ she was like, ‘Sure, I don’t know, I guess,'” Tim recalls. “And then she absolutely knocked it out of the park.”
Then there’s Braden, a well-read kid who came on strong but had something special that just needed the right outlet. Tim saw the spark and nurtured it, helping Braden channel his intelligence and passion into performance. For the sketch comedy show, Braden wrote “Communism: The Musical”—one of the best sketches Tim had ever seen.
When Braden later auditioned for a musical and revealed his amazing singing voice, Tim playfully scolded him: “What are you doing? Why didn’t you tell me? We could have been using your amazing voice in sketch comedy the whole time.” The moment brought tears to Braden’s eyes—and became one of those transformative moments Tim lives for.
The Deeper Why
When asked why performing arts matter so deeply, Tim’s answer reveals the philosopher beneath the teacher: “They are, at different times throughout our history, a way that we build culture and that society has a way to respond to what’s going on.”
But for Tim, it’s more personal than cultural commentary. It’s about the fundamental human need for story, for belonging, for the space to be authentically yourself. “No other animals have stories. We do. It’s such a huge and important role in human life.”
He’s worked with students across every imaginable challenge—ADHD, autism, cancer survivors, kids in wheelchairs, blind students, and those with behavioral and emotional disorders. “I’m not saying this will work for everyone,” he acknowledges, “but when you’re searching for something, if you can find it in performance, holy cow. It needs to be there for people.”
The Evening Transformation
Today, Tim continues to lead a dual life. Days belong to his daughter, who might interrupt his interviews with requests for snacks or attention. But evenings belong to the kids who need what he needed all those years ago—a place to be weird, wonderful, and wholly themselves.
At the Laughing Academy, teaching improv to teens and adults. At Elmhurst Children’s Theater, directing shows like Mary Poppins and continuing the 18-year tradition of “Unintentionally Hilarious,” the sketch comedy group he co-founded with Laura.
The shy kid from York High School has become the person he wished he’d had—someone to see the spark in the misfits, to create space for the different ones, to say with confidence: “Do you feel like you don’t belong? Come here. You’ll belong.”
It’s a beautiful circle, this journey from transformation to transformer, from the kid who found his voice on stage to the adult who helps others find theirs. And in the quiet suburbs of Glen Ellyn, as evening approaches and Tim prepares for another night of teaching, the circle continues—one shy kid, one misfit, one hidden talent at a time.
BIO
Tim Soszko has made a living performing, teaching, writing, directing, and producing for over 18 years all over the US, Canada, and Europe. He teaches classes at The Actors Training Center, The Laughing Academy, Booth, and Quinlan, to name a few places. Tim has been directing Elmhurst Children’s Theatre’s Unintentionally Hilarious sketch comedy troupe for the past 18 seasons, he teaches classes and camps, and directed ECT’s Monty Python’s Spamalot, Once Upon A Mattress, and Game of Tiaras. Tim performs with The Deltones, a musical improv group. For fun, he works as a voiceover artist, emcee, and auctioneer. He also wrote and starred in a TV pilot for his own sketch comedy show. Tim enjoys chocolate eclairs and his children.