A bit about me

I grew up in rural Western NY and I didn’t have a lot of exposure to theater, so I made my own.  I cast my friends in homemade adaptations of Macbeth and Twelfth Night, and we performed weekly in our backyard with tinker-toy swords and pillowcase tunics.  It was a dime to attend, but you were guaranteed at least two dramatic death scenes and a dry seat on the grass.  After a heavy dose of community theater , I created my own youth theater programming, The Angelica Players.  We ran summer theater programs for kids in New York and California.  We guided them as they built their shows from the ground up.  I’m sure I learned more about playfulness, bold choices, and drama from those kids than they learned from me.  I then studied at PCPA’s professional acting training program.  I loved the intensive, all-consuming, and focused conservatory lifestyle and I think I thrived there.  I learned how to do a pirouette, how to take a real breath, and how to understudy.  I had the absolute privilege of performing on their stages next to my incredible teachers and classmates.  

My story hasn't been a straight, paved road leading right to capital-T-theater.  I firmly believe that one has to live life to be able to tell stories about it, and I’ve tried to do my fair share of that.  I lived in Brazil for a while, learning Portuguese, Samba, and how to make pao de queijo.  I have spent many hours waiting tables in diners and bars.  I earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, where I dissected sheep brains, trained real life pigeons, and heard far too much about Freud.  I studied massage therapy in Costa Rica and then ran my own Massage Therapy business in California.  I’ve read a lot of Agatha Christie’s murder mysteries, but I haven’t yet solved any before Poirot.  

Thank you for reading and getting to know me a little.  I hope that someday you’re a part of my story.