A Synopsis of My Theatrical Life So Far

This is my first post! Welcome me! I'm going to use this blog to chronicle my life as an actress, from where it is beginning to gain some momentum, here in Louisville, Kentucky.  I'll use this first post to give a general overview of what's going on:

I just graduated from Middlebury College with a degree in Theatre and Sociology/Anthropology. At Middlebury, I discovered a talent and a passion for acting and for directing. The best things were Dora/Dorph in Airswimming by Charlotte Jones, Mother in Bad Blood (La Malasangre) by Griselda Gambaro

Bad Blood (Mother)

and directing Reefer Madness! The Musical and Talk Radio by Eric Bogosian. I spent a year abroad in London at Goldsmiths College.  In London,  I was a part of the Grimeborn Opera Festival's production of Figaro: The Loyal Subject as Marcellina and Florestine directed by Barnaby Rayfield (I have been singing seriously for many years, most recently studying with Carol Christensen at Middlebury). I also worked with the Icarus Theatre Collective, an Absurdist Theatre in London whose work I admire quite a lot. I am interested in being a part of a company like that in the future. When I returned, my friend, actress Cassidy Boyd, was asked to compete at the American College Theatre Festival, and she asked me to be her partner.  We got all the way to the final round at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC with the short play Phyllis and Xenobia by Christopher Durang and a scene from Bad Blood. There, I met Michael Legg, the director of the Apprentice/Intern Company at the Actor's Theatre of Louisville. I was accepted as an Acting Apprentice at ATL and will be here until May.  The program is amazing!  We (all 22 of us) get a whole season of shows to ourselves, which includes a show in the Humana Festival (!), an ensemble show (already done), a 10 minute play festival, solo performances, and shows in the New Voices Play Festival.  We are also considered for the mainstage productions as understudies and occasionally as cast.  Right now, I am cast as the understudy for Lucy (a wonderful actress, Gisela Chipe, is cast as Lucy) in Bill McNulty's production of Dracula, and I am thrilled to work with such and amazing cast and crew of professionals and fellow apprentices.

I had my first professional experience this summer with PTP/NYC's production of the Lovesong of the Electric Bear by Snoo Wilson, directed by Cheryl Faraone, where I was cast as The Old Southern Woman,

Lovesong of the Electric Bear (Old Southern Woman)

Hallam, Man, and a Bletchleyite as well as being the Musical Director.  I've realized that in theatre, the most important thing besides doing the kind of work you want to do is working with the kind of people with whom you want to work.  For me, these are people with open hearts and open minds, who want to create a kind of theatre that shakes the soul and leaves you breathless. Who want to work on theatre that is visceral and jolting. Who can teach me what they know, and get excited about every step of the process. I have been extraordinarily blessed to be working with such amazing people.  Many are friends from Middlebury, like actors and actresses Cassidy Boyd, Claire Graves, Michaela Lieberman, Schuyler Beeman, Mat Nakitare, Willy McKay, Lilli Stein, and Martha Newman.  Also professionals like Nina Silver, Alex Draper, Alex Cramner, Tara Giordano, and Ezra Axelrod. The apprentices that are here I am sure to be writing about a lot, so I'll let them filter in as they do.  I am looking to have a life in the theatre: acting, directing, making lots of new work, with my eyes looking across the ocean towards London or perhaps to Chicago (though I wouldn't say no to work anywhere!).  Wish me luck! Here goes...

The Apprentice/Intern Company at Actor's Theatre of Louisville (ATL)
Ellen Haun, Martina Bonolis, William Steele, Daniel Desmaris, Elizabeth Schwartzrock,  Rebecca Haden, Monica Bergstrand, Scott Swezey, Jordan Brodess, Peter Vergari, Alex Stage, Sean Michael Palmer, Brandon Peters, Victoria Alvarez-Chacon, Devin Olson, Alex Hernandez, Kerri Alexander, Dinah Berkely, Emily Kunkel, Havalah Grace, Ryan Westwood, Zach Virden