About
Photo Credit: Chris Macke
My Story
Born and raised on Long Island, New York, I have known from a very young age that I wanted to both entertain people, and to push against the established grain. I enrolled in my first theatre class in ninth grade, because I was told "You get to play games in class - how cool is that?!" and who wouldn't want to get class credit for playing games? I started playing improv games, and was quickly cast in The Crucible. The rush of being onstage, of studying and creating a character, was the greatest experience I'd ever had. I have been working around theatre and film ever since.
Shortly into my acting career I had my first opportunity to direct a show - a short, one-act play in class. I jumped at the opportunity. While I can't even remember the name of the play at this point (it was some screwball comedy, nothing of note, and it wasn't particularly good) I had been bitten by the directing bug. I was already hooked on acting, but here was an entirely new realm: overseeing everything, from costumes and staging to sound and lighting. I knew this was something that I needed to explore further. Understanding and planning every facet of a show was a monumental task that I was itching to undertake.
I continued acting (and exploring directing) throughout high school, performing in 14 different shows, and completing an internship with our theatre teacher and director. Then it was off to college - Adelphi University! I had fallen in love with the department staff and facilities when I visited for my first audition, and I was hooked. Completely enveloping myself in every theatrical opportunity I could, I began auditioning for every possible show - be it main stage, Black Box, or student directed.
And yet there was something missing - and I found it when I took my first Introduction to Costumes and Rudiments of Directing courses. This was a side of theatre I truly wanted to learn about. I wanted to design things, build my own shows and productions and put them on. I looked for opportunities to direct whenever possible, eventually directing four small-scale shows over two and a half years, and designing costumes for a main stage department production. I knew that I loved acting, and it was something I wanted to continue doing, but my heart was shifting further and further to directing. I capitalized on every opportunity (such as working with the New York Theatre Workshop twice during their summer retreats) and have been creating my own new projects while putting fresh spins on old classics ever since.
Background
I grew up just like any other child on Long Island - hanging out with friends and creating vast worlds of my own with my imagination. I loved to read, write, draw, anything artistic, and I took every opportunity to do so. When I was in fourth grade, my family found out that my sister, Sarah, had acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Everything changed. I went to school, I would go to a friends house, one of my parents would pick me up, we would go to the hospital. This was the new routine. Unfortunately things did not work out, as life is wont to do, and my sister passed away after nine months of fighting.
In her honor, my parents and I started The Sarah Grace Foundation for Children With Cancer, Inc. We set out to help children with cancer and their families - we knew how difficult it was to live any semblance of a normal life, and we wanted to do whatever we could to help people who were left in the same situation that we had been. We hold holiday parties, provide services and small funds to families, and anything we can to alleviate the everyday concerns of life, so they can focus on the fight ahead of them.
I organized a production of The Odd Couple to help raise money for the Foundation, and it was a great success. After that I helped found the improv group Unrehearsed, and we began to perform shows with the money from guest admission going to the Foundation.
The entire experience helped shape the world view that I hold: no one is more important than anyone else, no issue is too serious to stop us from remembering to laugh. Everyone needs some light and a break in this world, and I have made it my mission through theatre to inspire, entertain, and provoke.