Once upon a time…
In a not so distant kingdom known as Long Island, I was born into an extremely musical family. My mom is a retired K-6 general music and chorus teacher, my dad is a Grammy-nominated jazz pianist, both of my mom’s parents were music teachers, and both of my dad’s brothers are musicians! I can’t remember a time when music and the arts weren’t part of my life. Whether it was singing along to Belle and Ariel with my sister, twirling around in my backyard, or being bribed by my mom with M&Ms to practice piano, I am grateful for everything I was privileged to experience because of my family’s shared passion.
I spent most of my summers performing in community theatre in the Finger Lakes Region, and eventually it was my time to be in a musical at my high school as a real high schooler. I saw a flyer in early December 2009 advertising auditions for Beauty and the Beast, and I just had to audition! I was cast in the ensemble as a Disney Peasant/Column/Dancing Waiter and I had the time of my life. Being a part of this production completely changed my trajectory, but it wasn’t until the summer after Junior year of high school when I attended NYSSSA School of Choral Studies that I decided I wanted to pursue a degree in Vocal Performance. I then went to the Eastman School of Music, and I never looked back. Eastman gave me a top notch education, unparalleled experiences, and best friends that will last a life time. Near the end of my studies I came to the realization that although I loved opera, my true passion was theatre. After I graduated from Eastman, I pursued my graduate studies at NYU Steinhardt where I studied Vocal Performance with a concentration in Musical Theatre, with an Advanced Certificate in Vocal Pedagogy.
Currently I am playing Man 1 in I Left My Heart at Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre, and this past summer I was Fred Casely/Ensemble and also understudied Billy Flynn in Chicago at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina. Some of my favorite roles include being a Vacation Swing on the North American Tour of Cats (Munkustrap, Old Deuteronomy, and Gus/Bustopher Jones), Prince Christopher in Cinderella, Barnaby Tucker in Hello, Dolly!, Frid in A Little Night Music, and Manfred Lewin in the collegiate premiere of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s Out of Darkness (Eastman School of Music). I have also performed on notable concert stages such as The Town Hall, Feinstein's/54 Below, and at the Theatre Orb in Tokyo, Japan. I was a finalist in the prestigious Lotte Lenya Competition, and I am so grateful to the Kurt Weill Foundation for their continued support over the years. While most of my work has been in golden age musicals and operettas, I am also a huge fan of contemporary musicals by Jason Robert Brown and Ahrens and Flaherty, and the music of Sara Bareilles, Lake Street Dive, and Beyoncé!