About Me

You might recognize me as the 60s hippy-looking guy with the round glasses and septum ring—here’s a story to the face.

My journey began in the southeastern corner of the US, in Birmingham, Alabama. Growing up, I was immersed in the rich biodiversity, United Methodist “bless-your-heart”s, and the wet, cicada-sounding heat. The incredible landscape of Alabama’s mountainous forests and coastal marshes instilled in me a reverence for the natural world. I would often explore the creeks in my neighborhood while singing made-up songs to keep myself company as a kid, but my favorite place was and still is the emerald shores of the Gulf Coast.

Theatre has always been a part of my life.

When I was still very young, my mother took me with her to rehearsal for a local theatre’s production of Into the Woods. The process of developing the show fascinated me. I was entranced by Sondheim’s genius writing, the exaggerated stage makeup, and the enchanting scenery. I felt compelled to explore this art form that creates entire worlds in the space of one theatre.

I attended theatre camps, performed with Red Mountain Theatre’s youth conservatory, and helped my high school’s show choir bring home multiple first-place trophies. In my senior year of high school, I earned my crowning achievement at the time: I played the Chaperone in our production of The Drowsy Chaperone.

But then I gave up on theatre.

My struggle with extreme social anxiety and (unbeknownst to me at the time) gender dysphoria caused me to give up my dreams of performing professionally. I felt estranged in the one place that I expected to bring me solace. I retreated to my other passion: the ocean.

The sea holds one half of my heart (with theatre holding the other half), so I set off to the University of West Florida in Pensacola to earn a Bachelor of Science in marine biology. I specialized in genetics research focusing on marine viruses, and I tutored other undergraduate students in biochemistry. The best days were field research days, out in waist-deep water counting snails on a foggy morning or sprinting across the frigid beach in February to collect water samples. I even found time to reconnect with theatre by volunteering in the scene shop on campus.

I had always called myself genderfluid.

I wished I could just shapeshift so I could look however I wanted on a given day. Being raised in a fairly conservative school system, I had never met a trans person and was discouraged from exploring my non-conforming traits. I was a pretty “girl” with a short haircut trapped behind the bars of binary gender expectations. It took decades for me to realize that I wanted to start hormone replacement therapy, but I was terrified of what would happen to my voice. What if, when the HRT caused my voice to drop, I lost the ability to sing? My voice is so vitally important to me, and I was paralyzed by the thought of losing it. There was no one I could ask who knew what it was like on the other side. I had to choose based entirely on internet testimonials, strangers on Instagram, and my own conflicting feelings.

Eventually I bit the bullet. In the first month, I lost my voice entirely. I could barely make enough sound to speak, and then for months after that, I still had no range, control, or musicality. However, my voice had become an exciting new toy. As the inflammation died down, I found myself experimenting with sound. My range and tone grew deeper and richer. It was such a gift to discover that I had developed falsetto! As my voice and body changed, my confidence began to grow.

In my final semester at UWF, I took a voice class. What an exhilarating experience it was to share my new voice on the stage. I sang “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” (I. Love. Melodrama.) and discovered that I could sing again, better than before.

Of course everything changed after COVID.

I graduated from UWF in the fall of 2019 and started a job in March 2020 as a zookeeper—only to be laid off a week later due to a strange new disease we now know to be COVID-19. After the better part of a year without consistent work, I decided to take a bold chance and audition for the musical theatre program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. After all, theatre was the other half of my heart, and I had been given a second chance to pursue it. To my surprise, I was accepted.

I worked tirelessly to catch up with the years I had spent away from the theatre world. I opened my mind and heart to new ideas about human connection and performing arts. I got my ass kicked in dance classes until I started kicking ass myself. In my final semester, I was given the opportunity to work as the assistant director of my final production at UAB: Into the Woods. This was an incredibly fulfilling, full-circle experience that opened so many doors for my future. In my progress as an artist I find that I most value collaboration and team work, safe exploration of connection, and above all, freedom of the spirit.

Currently I work at a museum where I engage with visitors and teach them new things! I love working with kids and have a knack for teaching, but really I want to move to New York to become a full participant in the industry. I want to take on musicals of all genres, new works, and TV/film projects as a performer, but also as a director, choreographer, and writer. My goal is to bring more queer stories to the public eye to increase awareness and acceptance, and combat hatred and violence.

Thank you so much for reading this far, and I can’t wait to work with you!

What now?