Origin Stories
Theatre
My mom took me to audition at the Northfield Arts Guild when I was six. I was cast as Molly in Annie. I have never stopped performing. The NAG was a wonderful place to be a young artist-- in middle school, we had a Young People’s Theatre Travelling Troupe and a summer day camp where we wrote, directed, and starred in our own plays. Fast forward to Grad School--- my MFA in Acting specialized in the creation of new work. We learned many forms and a few different methods for creation and collaboration. I’ll never stop performing, but I’ll never stop wanting to be part of the creation process either. Chicago has been so good to me.
Music
I was formed as a singer in the Northfield Children’s Chorus, under the direction of Cora Scholz and occasionally Anton Armstrong. During high school, college, & grad school, I took private lessons and fell in love with Tori Amos, Bjork, and all the ladies of rock in the 90s. In Chicago, I worked harder at pop doing shows like BARE: A POP OPERA, reclaimed my soprano roots as Lucy Brown in Three Penny Opera, and learned to sing alto patter as Trix Lately in FANATICAL! I’m deeply grateful to Starlight Radio Dreams for giving me parodies and original songs to sing, as well as letting me create the singing characters of Missy O’Danaher, Customer Service Special Agent, and Beulah Boozler, Nashville singer and sister to Eugene (and Glade). If not for Starlight, I don’t know if I ever would have started writing songs.
Writing
In my undergraduate years I learned that form was my friend and not a jail, and realized that everything I wrote meant to be read out loud was stronger than my prose, poetry, and essays on the page. I love audio drama, one-person shows, full length plays-- and I love working in different voices. My influences: playwrights Anna Deveare-Smith, Lillian Hellman & George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett, and Caridad Svich. Movies: Willow, The Dark Crystal, and Labyrinth. Prose Authors: Margaret Weis, JD Salinger, Zadie Smith, Tamora Pierce.
I played D&D in the early 1990s and then picked it back up again in 2020. Now a regular player and DM, I am greatly influenced by Marisha Ray, Matt Colville, Jack Packard, Aabria Iyengar, Matthew Mercer and Laura Bailey.
Origin Stories
Church
Between living in five American states and the UK before I was twenty-two, and touring with a children’s choir that did sacred music, I attended a lot of different churches. During undergrad I wrote companion slam poems The Bible’s Book of Sex (about the Song of Solomon- and purity culture-) and Denominational Ho (slut shaming my theological eclecticism). It was neither the first time I tried to process religion through comedy and art, nor the first time I found myself in trouble for it. But I find that moment useful when trying to understand continuing to partake in a religious community. It’s a messy and occasionally absurd process. The Church has a lot to apologize for and I understand anyone who left church behind. I want to be part of solutions, so I stick around. I also receive support, love, and care there. I’m grateful for it. And I still think my 8th Grade cereal box art project Crunch for Christ (dump out the entire box to spell out an entire chapter of Thessalonians!) was hilarious.
Voiceover
Our Fair City was the closest thing I had to an artistic home for a few very important years. Playing Dora, Cumulus Jane, Loamy, Time Travelling Lindsay, and Eunice for them made me feel like a trusted chameleon and it was sublime. Being asked to co-write a live episode of OFC with Ele Matelan felt similarly amazing. Starlight Radio Dreams was the next artistic home for five seasons; I was honored to be part of the writing team for the last three. I’m also doing video games now--if you go to your local arcade and plunk yourself down in the cabinet of the new FAST & FURIOUS racing game, you’ll hear my voice as the menu and GODZILLA VR, you'll hear me voice a space marine. Stay tuned for other games out of Raw Thrills-- my voice will be on more games coming soon.
Yoga & Acroyoga
I was an thoroughly unathletic child, and managed dance in musicals because I acted my way through the choreography. But in grad school, my alone time was devoted to the gym. I learned to swim and tried various strengthening routines. In 2006 I moved to Chicago and found yoga and thought it was the best thing I'd ever encountered. In 2009 I got laid off from my admin job, took my unemployment to get certified as a yoga instructor and in 2010 pounded pavement teaching all over Chicago until I was full time. For thirteen years, it was a wonderful day job; I felt like I was doing a good thing in the world every day. It was an honor to be a part of my students’ lives and practices. In 2010 I also got certified to teach AcroYoga (Montreal Style) and maintained a regular acrobatic partnership with Joe Yonek for about six years. Together we trained, performed, and taught, from Chicago to Europe. They were some of the best times of my life-- the acro community holds a special place in my heart. I try to keep my body ready JUST IN CASE anyone asks me to fly.