HERE COMES THE FUN
When I was four years old, my parents took me to see my sister in a musical called ‘Steamboatin’. Her first-grade teacher had suggested putting her on stage because she was so shy in class she would barely say ‘Here!’ during roll call. I needed no such encouragement. While sitting on my father’s lap in the audience that night, I felt this undeniable pull toward something I couldn’t explain. I immediately knew the truth about my life. I’m supposed to be up there!” My poor father spent the entire rest of the show struggling to contain a squirming four-year-old who was DETERMINED to make it onto that stage right then and there. Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait very long, and spent my childhood racking up show after show, with musicals remaining my favorite avenue of expression.
Fast forward several years, and I am a stay-at-home mom living in the Midwest with my husband and two children. Being on stage is a crazy dream from another life, right? Wrong. I couldn’t think of one single other thing I wanted to do with my life after the kids got older. So, as they grew more independent, I began my great return to theater. It started in the summer of 2007 when I discovered improv for the first time. I had never seen a single show, nor even heard of ‘Who’s Line is it Anyway,’ but I was invited to audition for a new improv theater that was opening in a nearby small town in Kansas, and I got in! Improv opened up a whole new world to me, and once again, I felt that undeniable pull toward the future.
I saved all my money from every show I did that year, and by the next summer, I had scraped together enough to put myself through the summer intensive course at The Annoyance Theater in Chicago, IL. with such legendary teachers as Susan Messing, Mick Napier, and Joe Bill. I also began taking theater classes at a local community college shortly after. I once again realized that being onstage was my lifelong obsession, and this time, I was determined to pursue it for the rest of my life with no interruptions.
Until life interrupted me once again! My father became very sick, and it became clear to me and the rest of my family that it was time to be closer to the rest of the family. So we packed up and headed west to Seattle. At this point, since I was in such a great market, I decided that it was time to pursue theater seriously, and I began auditioning for everything I could. Fortunately, I found a small amount of success, and then a bigger one, and then an even BIGGER one. The whole time I kept training and honing and polishing my craft. There is no end to this pursuit, only a bigger game.
In 2016, I was fortunate enough to travel with a group of improvisers to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where we performed an Improvised David Lynch show, which was met with much critical success. I realized then that my ultimate goal was to travel and make art. There is so much to be learned when you have access to stories that you do not normally have access to. So much eye-opening happens when you can remove yourself from your comfort zone and see the world through a different lens.
During the Covid lockdown, I spent my days on Zoom receiving training from legendary teachers and schools, polishing my craft, and really finding my voice. What’s next? Use that voice to bring attention to the invisible. And for me, that has always been the real goal. Telling the urgent and unignorable stories. Peeking behind the curtain and seeing what’s there. So, thank you for being here, letting me gently guide you through some life lessons, and providing you with a safe spot in which to grow. Because ideally, we are all striving to be our higher selves and to be a part of your journey is one of my greatest privileges in life.
