“Think of it this way… Our aim is to make the world more beautiful than it was when we came into it. It can be done. You can do it. How? Love yourself… and make your instrument sing about it.”
— The Kid Nobody Could Handle,
Kurt Vonnegut, 1955
Growing up in South Louisiana, I was exposed to a great variety of extracurricular enrichment activities. My twin brother and I often cheerfully moved from one activity to another, never pausing too long to develop just one activity or skill. This led to a natural desire for variety in my life. It should make sense then that I would become an actor, a profession that gives me a chance to continually try on and learn about different experiences in a great variety of roles and responsibilities for however the amount of time I may be given. I have been an architect, a flower-shop assistant, a mad scientist, a bank robber, a naughty butler, a demon, a cowboy, a lawyer, the Czar of Russia… Why settle for just one job, when I can play them all?
Today, I am an Actor’s Equity member, actor, voice-over artist, singer, puppeteer, writer, and producer living in New York City. In New York, I have worked with New York Musical Theatre Festival, Broadway’s Circle in the Square (w/ Theodore Mann), The Public Theater, Gallery Players, Symphony Space, Old Vic New Voices (w/ John Gould Rubin,) Craig Marin (Flexitoons), just to name a few.
A few of my regional credits include the post-Broadway premiere of “A Year with Frog and Toad” at Orlando Shakespeare Festival, Nathan Leopold in the Southeastern regional premiere of “Thrill Me,” and Teddy in the world premiere production of “Bathhouse: The Musical,” as well as work with Luna Stage, Swine Palace Productions, Shakespeare & Co, and Mad Cow Theatre.
Other notable roles throughout my career include the world premiere of “The Tallest Building in the World” by Matt Schatz, “George M. Cohan’s The Tavern” (The Vagabond), “Urinetown: The Musical” (Bobby Strong), “What the Butler Saw” (Nicholas Beckett), “Little Shop of Horrors” (Seymour), “Sweeney Todd” (Tobias), Arthur Miller’s “The American Clock” (Arthur A. Robertson), and “Kid-Simple” (Oliver).
My TV roles include appearances on VH1, Travel Channel, Lifetime, Discovery ID, & American Heroes Channel, and lead roles in numerous independent films and series. I am the creator of the award-winning webseries pilot, “Hellgate Academy.” I am also perpetually adapting the rest of the series into an audio-drama that’s always coming out next year.
I grew up “down the bayou” as they say, about an hour south of New Orleans. Yes… there is land an hour south of New Orleans. A lot of time was spent watching sci-fi tv shows, cartoons, comedy, and classic films, which would influence the kinds of roles I enjoy working on today. I also delighted in watching live performances at theme parks on family vacations and in the small local community theatre.
After participating in an improv exercise in my high school drama club, all of my energy turned to finding my own chances to perform. I attended a high school for the performing arts and was introduced to puppetry in a college production. That experience with large-scale puppets led me to an opportunity with a certain Central Florida theme park, so away I went.
I spent some time as a performer for various Central Florida area theme parks, notably playing a certain character who loved to make believe and pretending-to-not-grow-up, among other roles. This experience taught me a lot about discipline, repetition, character integrity, and making every performance special. I worked extensively in interactive entertainment, theatre, and puppetry throughout Central Florida, including stunt performance, emcee, pre-show voice-over announcements & character voices, and costume-suit performance for Walt Disney Entertainment, Universal Studios, Pirates Dinner Adventure, and more. I continue to develop my expertise in experiential entertainment by collaborating with a variety of brands and arts organizations as a performer, writer, creative producer, and creative director. My early experience with puppetry and physical acting laid the groundwork for my lasting interest in creature suit, full body puppetry, and costume performance.
While in Florida, I was also frequently a guest performer with various professional theatres in the community, eventually becoming a member of the Actor’s Equity Association. With that experience, I was ready to continue my professional education to refine my artistic process and stretch my range as a performer and creator. I accepted a spot in the training program at Circle in the Square Theatre School and moved to New York City, where I trained under Alan Langdon, Terese Hayden, Moni Yakim, Carole Shelley, B.H. Barry, John Kander, Bill Irwin, Barry Edelstein, etc.
After graduating from Circle in the Square, I made my London Theatrical debut at The Old Vic as an inaugural TS Eliot Fellow with the Old Vic New Voices US/UK Exchange, hosted by Kevin Spacey, in Anna Moench’s “Halo/Titanic.” Selected as one of New York’s top emerging theatre talents, I worked alongside then up-and-coming artists such as Elizabeth Davis, Vandit Bhatt, Margo Seibert, Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Jimmy Maize, and many others. While there I also trained in physical acting technique with Frantic Assembly.
With over two decades of experience, I’m known for intellectual, savvy, cunning, and intelligent characters, sometimes with a chip on their shoulder, often intense and persistent. Wounded souls, hopeful dreamers, childlike scamps, and brash know-it-alls. Whether a manic comedy or a heartbreaking drama, my work is grounded with specificity in research and character development and finding truthful personal connections with the characters I portray. I’m as passionate about interpreting existing characters with my personal contributions, as I am creating original characters for new theatrical works, TV, and film, particularly if they have something new to say about the Human Condition and a connection to history.
When I’m not performing, I enjoy visiting coffee shops, theme parks, and scif-fi & comic conventions. I love playing table-top games and eating cake on Tuesday afternoons with friends. I enjoy all things puppet, haunted, and magic. My favorite thing to do is taking my wee puppy Wembley on adventures through new cities or wilderness trails or the like, and sharing photos of those adventures.
Thanks for getting to the end of this long bio that nobody asked me to write. I hope you enjoyed my story. Follow me on social media for more updates and adventures. Eat your Tuesday cake. Best wishes.