I have several years of experience as an actor, director, Improv performer, voice actor, and Improv and acting teacher. My students range from age four to super retired.
In 2009, I began studying acting with the amazing Dinah Manoff. Soon after, I started assisting Dinah with classes and on productions which evolved to co-producing an annual festival in which I also acted, stage managed, directed and was a playwright for. We also produced The Outsiders, “New Works”, and play readings including “A Night of Raymond Carver” and The Gin Game.
From 2017-2020 Dinah and I added the deeply satisfying venture of volunteering to co-teach Improv and acting at Purdy Women’s Prison in Gig Harbor, Washington. Women of all ages, determined to earn their High School degrees, received a fine arts or extracurricular credit, which they could (and did) take several times. In 2022, Dinah and I co-produced an audible of her book, The Real True Hollywood Story of Jackie Gold , a project in which I contributed 24+ different voices. We continue to work together on many different projects to this day.
In 2010, I added Improv to my repertoire and soon began performing Improv for larger audiences. I went on to become a member of the Improv Troupe “Imagined Reality Improv” in 2016, and we continue to perform one to two shows a month in Kitsap, Clallam, and Jefferson counties at multiple venues (visit https://Imaginedrealityimprov.com for information on upcoming shows).
Also in 2016, I began teaching K-12 Improv and acting at Bainbridge Independence summer camp which led to a year-round teaching position for the before and after school program until it closed in 2020. I began teaching adult Improv classes on Bainbridge Island in 2019, moving class online in 2020 for over a year with students from several different states. I began teaching in person adult workshops again in 2024 (visit the classes tab to see what is currently available).
I have been teaching Improv and acting classes and camps for ages 8-18 at BARN and Jewel Box Theater since 2023 (visit the classes tab to see what is currently available).
I have learned, and continue to learn, a great deal about Improv, acting, playwriting, character development, production, and even stage managing through participating in many classes, plays, scenes and stage performances. I love sharing this ever-expanding knowledge with my students and have a myriad of curriculums under my belt for all ages and levels of students.
The advantages of taking Improv are extensive, and more importantly, this art form has proven to be a very freeing and fun experience for my students and I take great joy in watching them learn and grow as they progress through class.
Concerning my formal training, I have a degree in Environmental Science with an emphasis in Chemistry and a minor in Conservation Resource Studies from UC Berkeley. How I got from there to where I am now is a long story, suffice it to say, it has been a deeply gratifying journey.