I began my career in the theater at the age of 12 in the local High School musical. I was hooked by the inclusive environment, the public accolades, and the exhilaration of performance. I chose to pursue Drama and received my BFA in Drama from Carnegie Mellon University.
I recieved my Actor’s Equity Association membership through the Pittsburgh CLO. Through the connections I made there, I was hired for a six month European tour of “Die Schone und Das Biest” (Beauty and the Beast), in German. I also toured through Europe with the English language 40th Anniversary Tour of “West Side Story.”
I got a big break when I was cast in the First National Tour of the Broadway musical, “Footloose,” for nearly a year. A second National Tour, “The Full Monty,” had me on the road for nearly three years. During that tour I teamed up with a couple of the teen-age boys to write some silly music in the form of the band “Pedestrian Crossing,” or, “Ped-X,” that you can hear at the “Music” link.
Following that long stint on the road, I joined the Screen Actors Guild and branched out into the film and television industry with several lead roles in student films and lots of background work in major motion pictures.
I was forced to vastly improve my guitar playing while performing the role of “Jackson” in the musical “Pump Boys and Dinettes” at the Pennsylvania Center Stage. With those skills, I wrote a rock-musical called “Printed Name.”
My last year in NYC was 2007-2008. I was in the Off-Broadway musical “Sessions” as “Dylan” at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater on W. 42nd St. That fall, I did two shows at the Metropolitan Playhouse: “The Pioneer” and the historical drama, “Year One of the Empire.”
I moved to Gainesville, Florida in July of 2008 and started the early-childhood music education company, Tonewood Family Music, Inc. I teach 20 classes a week, give music classes at four of the local libraries each month, and volunteer bringing music to the children in the local hospital on a weekly basis. Also in 2008, I began performing on bouzouki/guitar/bass (depending on the song) and vocals with The Embros Orchestra – a local Greek band. We released the album, “Greek Glendi,” in the fall of 2014.
In the summer of 2012, I returned to NYC to play the title role in “Macbeth” at the Gallery Players in Brooklyn, NY. I followed up there the next two summers with “Iago” in “Othello,” and “Antonio” in “The Merchant of Venice.”
I was given the opportunity to perform at Gainesville’s Hippodrome State Theater in a new play, “The Two Musketeers,” playing “D’Artagnan.” That was followed with the role of “Blackstache” in “Peter and the Starcatcher,” and then I was made a member of the acting company. I look forward to continuing my performing there in the future.
To be continued…