We look to the past to shape our future. Who are you? Where are you going from here?

I’m an actor, singer, and writer. I’m based in Chicago, but I plan to move to the East Coast in the next several years (and hence am grateful to work at TAM!) to deepen my work as an actor, and to keep writing plays and characters featuring types of women who are underrepresented or underplayed in mainstream media. I love flipping traditional narratives on their heads.

What most excites you about being a part of TAM’s 50th Anniversary Season?

I’ve always loved the sweeping story of Sense and Sensibility, and Romeo and Juliet has always been a favorite Shakespeare of mine. I am so grateful that TAM chose such powerful stories from the heart for their 50th season, and that they chose my incredible castmates and me to help tell them.

Have you more Sense than Sensibility? Do you consider yourself more of a “Marianne” or an “Elinor” and why?

If you’re meeting me for the first time, you’d say I’m a total Elinor. But if you know me really well… you might see a lot of Marianne…

Who inspires you and why?

My teachers me inspire me more than anyone. R. G. Anderson for his heart, Robin McFarquhar for his Sense, J. W. Morrissette for his Sensibility, Nisi Sturgis for her soul, my dad for his storytelling, and my mother for everything.

You can have dinner with any three influential people. Who are your dream guests, why them, and what is the topic of conversation?

I have to say William Shakespeare. He probably doesn’t know or care, but he shaped my life. Lin Manuel Miranda because he’s also a genius I want to be able to do what he does: write and perform. Sarah Ruhl because In the Next Room or the vibrator play changed my life. All actors and writers, come to think of it – and that’s what we’d talk about.

What recent accomplishment are you most proud of?

The recent accomplishment I’m most proud of is writing, producing, and performing in my original play, The Princess Play at the Armory Free Theatre at U of I. In order to reverse a curse in which all the men were taken out of their stories, your favorite Disney Princesses must speak their truths for the first time – and discover who they really are.

What’s your super power?

My super power is the ability to harmonize with almost any song after hearing it once. Or making cookies. Or naming any Spongebob episode from any quote. Or making friends with any and all dogs. Or flying. Take your pick…