As a small town, Midwest kid, live theatre was sparse, and I didn't realize my passion for it early on. But the countless nights I hammed about the Gutierrez casa in costumes scrapped from my family's wardrobes, paired with the evenings I spent glued to the TV watching "Grease," while all the dirty innuendos went right over my 6-year-old head, proved otherwise. I was entranced by every Disney animated musical and spent a good part of my childhood pretending I was in a magical world of Disney.

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Despite all the parading around in the home, I grew inherently shy (and chubby) in grade school. My parents encouraged summer theatre camp through our local arts council. I hated it. It wasn't in me to perform in front of large groups of people I didn't know, let alone dressed up as Baby Bear while Goldilocks at all my porridge. No. 

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But music has always been in my blood. One of my first memories as a toddler is giggling on the floor as my dad played guitar and sang "La Bamba," shakin' his booty and nodding his head at me to sing along. I was completely enthralled. Soon after, I picked up my own instrument: piano. Hundreds of hours, lessons, and classical competitions later, proved I had a gift. I preferred to escape to my piano, without talking.

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Through junior high, my focus turned to sports. Year-round basketball tournaments & sports camps consumed me; it was never the 'off-season.' Wholly invested, as most teenagers in the midwest are. I have a vivid memory of one of my teachers asking me in middle school if I was going to do choir in high school, and I laughed it off, and replied with a lofty, "Me? No way. I do sports."

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As fate would have it, fast-forward a year, six seasons of basketball, and countless bottles of Gatorade later... my thirst wasn't quite quenched. ;) Thankfully, I kept up with my music. Even picked up the saxophone (dedicated band man, here. Thanks Mr. M!) I auditioned for the "Hays High Chamber Singers," the elite, audition-only choral group in our school. I made the cut, thus propelling me into my first musical, Oliver!

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My parents will attest, this time around, I came alive. The curtain went up on opening night, and Fagin valiantly rounded up his thieving minions and blazed his way, air piccolo in-hand. I fell in love with this way of expressing myself. It propelled me to attend Oklahoma City University, majoring in musical theatre, and I was fortunate enough to spend my summers doing stock musicals at Music Theatre of Wichita under the guidance of Wayne Bryan. These two places helped groom this green, garden-of-a-man to make the move to the Big Apple.

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Upon arrival to New York, my first audition out of the gate was for Disney Cruise Line. A couple callbacks later, I was shipped out to sea, performing the titular role in Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular aboard the Disney Fantasy. After a few seasons of working for the mouse, it was time to get back to New York. 

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But only for the Mouse to call again, this time on Broadway, joining the Broadway company of Aladdin, covering the titular role. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. 

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New York is now home. I live each day 'in the arena' pursuing the dream. Grateful for the moment, as it can go by so fast.

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