About Me
...and my love of performing
The Beginning
Among my first performances would have been those, at age 3, with my sister and cousins, dressed in a tutu and playing a xylophone or recorder under the direction of our bossy eldest cousin. I remember loving the attention. I have distinct memories of listening and harmonizing to a wide variety of music in the car with my family; this shared appreciation for music was definitely a precursor to my love of song and, unknown at the time, memory training for the weird skill of recalling the original key of songs!
Painfully shy, I shocked my parents with a soulful solo performance of "Lovely Day" at my Kindergarten graduation. Looking for musical opportunities for me wherever they could, it quickly became clear that performing was not a passing fancy.
While singing inspired me, it was the process of creating and presenting myself as a character that completed me. As a shy and uncomfortable teenage looking for a place to "fit in", I was encouraged by a friend to audition for my high school play in my freshman year and have never looked back.
My first acting opportunity outside of high school came as Prudy Pingleton in a local youth production of Hairspray. We performed at the Herberger Theater, one of Arizona's premier performance venues, and for a newbie to the acting community at age 15, it was magical!
Reflection
As a Phoenix native, I was fortunate that the arts were -- and still are -- well-supported in the Valley of the Sun and that its thriving theatre community offered me an array of opportunities. Since my first foray into musical theatre, I have very intentionally celebrated each aspect of the pursuit. I have come to appreciate and evaluate each audition -- rejection or casting, disappointment or triumph -- as they teach me something about myself and influence my next.
I value the rehearsal process and deeply feel the responsibility to develop my character, with the assistance of the artistic team, to be able to offer an audience the optimal performance they deserve. I have been blessed with some truly fantastic experiences -- whether lead, supporting, or ensemble -- and every production, director, creative team member, choreographer, music director, and cast is extraordinary in their own way and contributes to a memory file that I cherish.
No matter my future, I will always treasure my Arizona theatre experiences and relationships - there is no doubt they are deeply contributive to my development as an actor and as a human.
Pursuit
The opportunities I had in the Arizona theatre community helped mold me into the performer I am today and propelled me into a new opportunity: to pursue my dream in the theatre capital of world, New York City. It’s nerve-wracking, being on this new adventure, but it is also everything I have ever dreamed of doing with my life. I have been very blessed to make my dream of “the big move” a reality, and with a village of support cheering me on from across the country, I cannot wait to see where this new adventure takes me.
When I contemplate the life I am living and the myriad of remarkable people I have met or worked with along the way, who have inspired me, critiqued me, taught me, supported my dream, and come alongside me in the journey, I can say with certainty that I am doing what I am meant to do.
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