My Story

I have always loved to perform and never had any doubt that would be an integral part of my life. I began balancing my passion for education and the arts when I was a teenager at Randolph School in Huntsville, Alabama. I directed shows, lead arts camps in the community and at First Baptist Church, and taught instrumental lessons to younger students.

 

Throughout high school, I played violin in the Huntsville Youth Orchestra and First Baptist Church Orchestra, oboe in the Randolph School Band and the Huntsville Community Band, and sang with the Randolph School concert choir and the First Baptist Church youth choir. I performed in many shows at my school, church, and in the community, including a couple favorites of Ado Annie in Oklahoma and Minnie Fay in Hello Dolly. My senior year, I earned the award of Outstanding Choral Student for my district as well as placing third in the highly competitive musical theatre individual event at State Trumbauer.

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I went on to get a B.A. with a double major in theatre and music from Samford University, eventually spending several years as the co-coordinator and lead teacher for their summer theatre camps. My capstone project was directing a Theatre for Young Audiences musical for which I organized a tour to area elementary schools and children's centers. I spent a semester in Europe studying theatre, art, and linguistics, after which I married fellow SU theatre major, Rush who is now a Historical Interpreter at The American Village.

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After college, I began teaching play, art, and music classes at Gymboree Play and Music and private voice and piano lessons at Dawson Music Academy. In 2011 I landed the lead role in Red Mountain Theatre's Hairspray after they conducted a statewide Search for Tracy. I reprised that role at Theatre Tuscaloosa a few years later. I continued to perform and stage manage with RMT whenever the opportunity arose as well as continuing to teach various residencies and workshops with them throughout the years. From 2017-2020 I was the Children's Programming Director at South City Theatre, where I also directed and music directed and both Rush and I both performed in many productions, a favorite being Smoke on the Mountain.

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I now hold all three levels of Kodály Certification through University of Montevallo Kodály Institute and the Waldorf Elementary Music Teacher Education certification through Sunbridge Institute. I have been serving at Alabama Waldorf School for over a decade where I now teach Music and Movement to grades 1-8 as well as serving as The College of Teachers Chair. I direct an MTI KIDS show for the elementary school musical every spring at my alma mater (Randolph) every spring. Over the past few years I have had the opportunity to direct, design, and music direct several productions at Birmingham Children's Theatre after a few years hiatus following my performance in their summer show Alice in Wonderland. I teach private voice, violin, piano, and ukulele lessons and perform with other local theatre and musical groups whenever I can! I also play the violin for weddings with my sister who is a professional harpist based in Huntsville.

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My favorite role to date is to the children closest to me. Rush and I are filled with love and light by our son, daughter, two nieces, and five nephews, as well as several foster children who have lived in our home and remain in our hearts.