ABOUT

Yo, thanks for visiting my site!

 

I started performing at 15 with Lighten Up Improv Co. in Kansas City, Missouri.  I was at a show with some friends from high school and thought, "I can do that."  Two weeks, an audition, and an improv intensive later I was thrown on stage and hooked.  Columbia College Chicago followed, along with classes at Second City and Improv Olympic.  I got more and more into theatre, and less into improv.   I wanted to be the best actor I could be - and as much as I loved making people laugh, I knew that I needed more training.

 

I crashed the audition for Alabama Shakespeare Festival's professional actor training program - and got in.  I got paid to go to school, received a Master's degree, my equity card, and met the love of my life, Liz.   After grad school I backpacked through Italy for three months; then Chile for another month.  It was life changing and awesome - I was able to go to the places Shakespeare wrote about, and see Pablo Neruda's houses on the other side of the Atlantic.  I ate incredible food, grew a huge beard, climbed a volcano, went to wine festivals, saw great theatre, and rode horses on the beach.  The next adventure was NYC. We lived in Queens for five years. Gigs came and went. New York was great; filled with highs and lows and friends and inspiration and hustle.  However, Liz was inspired to go back to school to become a Midwife and we moved to Nashville to start a Master's program at Vanderbilt. 

 

I started a theatre company, Nashville Story Garden, and worked on amazing projects including Stranger Things & The Walking Dead. Five years ago we relocated to Champaign, IL where I am an Assistant Professor of Acting at the University of Illinois.  Liz continued her education journey and graduated with her DNP from Vanderbilt University. Currently she is the Assistant Director of the University of Alabama Birmingham's Nurse Midwifery program.  I continue to be amazed by my proudest collaboration to date, my daughters.  I'm excited about the future of theatre and can't wait for more chances to work with talented people, challenge my students, go hiking with my girls, and enjoy a cigar on my porch.