It was a production of “Amadeus” that made him utter the words, “I wanna do that!” Since then, he has dreamed of acting. David Fluitt, a 2004 graduate, will play the lead role in “Macbeth” for Shakespeare Dallas this month.

Fluitt, now 31, grew up in South Texas, before moving to East Texas in 1995. The youngest of three children by many years, Fluitt said he basically grew up as an only child.

“I think it helped contribute to my imagination,” Fluitt said. “I had to come up with ways to entertain myself when no one else was around.”

Because his father and brother are both veterinarians, the acting profession is something new to his family.

His acting career began with the role of Santa Claus in an elementary school Christmas play, Fluitt said.

“I went to Mineola High School, which has an exceptional theatre department,” Fluitt said. “Theatre just was the thing to do.”

From there, he enrolled at Kilgore College to major in theatre. He was only enrolled in theatre classes and began to wonder if acting was really what he was supposed to be doing.

“I heard from many people, whose opinions I really value, that maybe I should do something else,” Fluitt said. “This career is not the easiest thing to do.”

He dropped out of Kilgore College and eventually moved to Fort Worth. He continued to keep up with acting lessons, but had various retail jobs to pay the bills.

“I just needed a change of scenery, and Fort Worth seemed like a great place to find that change,” Fluitt said.

In 2000, he realized how important acting was to him and decided to go back to school. He applied and was accepted to TCU.

“You have to give yourself as many opportunities as you can,” Fluitt said. “Going back to school taught me so much and gave me a lot more experience.”

His first semester at TCU, he was in both fall productions, “Heathen Valley” and “My Fair Lady.”

He said his favorite acting experience while at TCU was called “Two Feet Away and Shouting.” He said it was a student-written and -directed play performed in October 2002.

“It was just a really cool experience for it to be completely student-run,” he said. “It allowed us to put our whole selves into the production.”

Fluitt said the professor who had the most impact on him at TCU was T.J. Walsh, associate professor of theatre.

“He is a wonderful man both inside and outside of TCU,” Fluitt said. “He is knowledgeable, kind and supportive – just a fantastic professor.”

Walsh met Fluitt in his class and knew immediately he was someone special.

“He is one of the finest actors in the Dallas/Fort Worth area,” Walsh said. “He is the ultimate artist. When you cast him in a play, he knows exactly what he is doing, you don’t have to teach him, you just direct him.”

Walsh has used him both in school productions as well as professionally.

“He has very strong work habits, always very prepared, shows up on time, and very professional,” he said. “He is just a special guy.”

Fluitt graduated from TCU in 2004 with a Bachelor of Science degree in theatre with an emphasis in acting.

Since then, he has been doing a little bit of everything.

In 2005, he was in a play called “Metamorphosis” with a group called Theatre 3. The set was a large pool with three water levels. The play was based on modern Greek and Roman mythology, so the pool had a role in most of the scenes, he said.

“There were tales about sailors, so they had a ship and tales about the underworld where people would be transformed by the water.”

He has recently begun doing work with Shakespeare Dallas. He was in their production of “Twelfth Night”, and in the winter of 2006, did a school tour that presented different parts of Shakespeare plays to high school students around Texas.

“I like doing Shakespeare a lot,” Fluitt said. “It is just so brilliant. Shakespeare has it all in there for you, sometimes you just have to get out of his way!”

He is now preparing to play the lead role in “Macbeth.” He said he is excited about the challenge of the play and his character.

“I really enjoy Shakespeare Dallas’s approach to Shakespeare and especially this play,” Fluitt said. “They strive to make it accessible to everyone.”

Marco Salinas is the director for “Macbeth.” He has been the director of educational tours at Shakespeare Dallas for 12 years.

This is the second play he has done with Fluitt.

“He is one of the most workable actors I have ever encountered,” Salinas said. “He is agile, has amazing expression and really directible.”

The play will take place in Samuell-Grand Park. Salinas said it is a terrific mood piece for the outdoors.

“The material works so well in an outdoor ambiance, especially in October,” Salinas said.

Fluitt said he does not know what is next for his career. Ideally, he would like to continue to move up to larger markets.

He said he feels being older helps him in his acting and gives him an advantage over other people.

“Acting is about the human condition and how we all interact,” Fluitt said. “You can’t help but bring your own experience into it, and it helps a lot that I have had so many years of life to bring to it.

“I love doing theatre, and I hope to continue doing it for as long as I can,” Fluitt said.