Having trouble applying gradient to text

This is probably something dumb that I’m doing wrong but I was trying Kirupa’s Lighting Mask tutorial and everything else works great except for flash won’t let me apply a gradient to my text. I used the “Break Apart” function and then tried to create a gradient and it won’t apply to it. It’s driving me nuts! It lets me apply solid colors but not gradients. I’m working in MX 2004. Does anyone have any idea what’s going on? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! :worried: