Hometown: Brattleboro, Vermont
Education: BS Interior Design
Favorite Credits: Doing A Kind Shot at FringeNYC. What an experience!
Why theater?: Because there are actual real, live people there.
Tell us about A Kind Shot: It's a solo show that chronicles my life as a basketball player, designer, coach, stripper…. It's uplifting and thought provoking and some have said that the pace of my delivery makes them feel like they are watching a basketball game. I used to play pro ball in France and I played thru college so the story uses basketball as a metaphor. And just when you think, "Oh my God..! This is getting heavy." I slip in some humor.
What inspired you to write A Kind Shot?: After my first solo show, I wanted to take what I had learned and tell a story with a "truer angle" of my life. So, I Googled "how to do a solo show" and found Marty Moran's show All the Rage and later saw The Tricky Part. I liked how he told his life story with a thru line and how it was on the edge with humor and smarts. After performing "a kind shot", people write me emails saying how they can now talk about stuff (like sexual abuse) that they had never talked about with their loved ones. Many people have said that the show inspires them to get out there, play, let it rip. It's the feedback from people that inspires me, that keeps me going.
What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I like the "straight" plays. But then I really like the weird outrageous ones too. Anytime there are humans on a stage crushing the lights out, I'm game, all in, give me more. I mean, I love Stomp! And I could fall in love with a solo artist, who is simply on stage and pouring out their heart and soul. What inspires me are those laughs, those moments of sizzle, the mistakes that you as a performer can turn into gold on the stage… the opportunity to share yourself live! To see what is gonna happen tonight…knowing that you are seeing a show for the first time! Every time is the first time.
If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Jeff Goldblum, Jodie Foster, Steve Buscemi, TILDA SWINTON!!!
What show have you recommended to your friends?:Random Acts by Renata Hinrichs, both of Marty's shows, and any of Mike Birbiglia's shows -- he's got one now called Thank God for Jokes.
Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: A female coach who is falling apart, she coaches a team, say from a small town and the kids are living like below the poverty level and thru coaching, the kids get into colleges, she heals, a community is created. The movie would have to be called "Coach". And star Sigourney Weaver or Mariel Hemingway or Kate Winslet.
If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?:Burn This. It was my mom' favorite play she always talked about it. I played Anna in some scene studies. Plus, I love John Malkovich too. And I miss my mom, so it would be cool to see what she liked.
What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Eating.
If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _______?: I'd be a mess….but I'd be working in architectural design services or finding a way to create my landscaping biz into a full time gig.
What’s up next?: Raising money. You got any?