Profile

Currently I’m working on a one-woman show called Bald in the Land of Big Hair based on a book by Joni Rogers. The book was on the New York Times best seller list forever and I finally picked it up and read it. Joni was an actress who found herself a mom in suburban Houston and I’m an actress who found herself a mom in suburban Houston.

The book was amazing. It was Joni’s journey through a battle with cancer. She writes about how losing her hair added to the foreignness she felt, especially when she went to the gym in Texas where the women had long, flowing locks. It’s a really cool piece.

I’ve been an actress for twenty-five years. I play all ten characters. Some characters in the play are represented as wig heads on stands with wigs. I am literally bald in the land of big hair. This is a comedy. It’s a very funny play. It’s full of love and full of light and full of hope.

There are really three parts to putting together a project like a one-woman show. First, you have to have a great idea. Then, you have to have patience. Third, you have to have faith and know it is going to happen.

To do a one-woman show, it’s important to find a project that speaks to your core and is right for you. When I read Joni’s book it was like reading myself talking to me. They were words I needed to say and I didn’t need to say them to make money or have fame and fortune. I just needed to say those words out into the universe for people to hear.

Then, you have to be extraordinarily patient. I first mounted this show in 2005 and then put it on the back burner. All of a sudden, my friends came together and it became a possibility. This is the project I’m supposed to do.

I have four venues lined up but I’m still trying to raise the $5,000 to get the show going.

People who hear about it are getting excited. I know it’s going to happen.

My friend Karen, who was my high school drama teacher, is directing the play. My friend Rich English is helping on the script. I also work with an illustrator and sound production friend.

Sometimes I have to be creative and sometimes I have to be administrative.

What do I not love about what I’m doing right now?

I feel like finally at the age of 44 things are coming together on this project in a way I could never have imagined. I pinch myself that I’m going to make this happen and take this message out to people.

I love saying the truth to people who need to hear it. That’s why I got into acting. Now I get to do it on my own terms.

I don’t like getting up early in the morning. I don’t like feeling kind of scattered. It gets a little hectic and frantic. I prefer more peace.

Simple things. I’m inspired by getting up in the morning, my kids laughter, applause, and my husband’s faith in me. I’m inspired by everything. I’m one of those giddy, happy, irritating people. It doesn’t take much to get me inspired.

My mother believed in me almost to a fault. I had to realize that I was not God’s gift to the world. I was a bit too confident. Her faith in me was constant. She passed away last March and I feel her smiling a lot. She never gave up. Whenever I had an idea about what I wanted to do, she said, “Absolutely, you can do that. You have to figure out how but you can do that.” I hear her voice a lot.

As an actress, the best advice I ever received was when I was being really obsessive about a part and I was in tears because I wasn’t getting the part right or the essence of the role. I called my friend Karen who is my director now. She said, “Just shut up and don’t bump into the furniture.”

Don’t take yourself too seriously. It’s not all about you. It’s about the words and the audience. You’re just a part of the whole. You just need to know what you are doing like a plumber needs to know what he is doing or he can’t fix the sink.

You don’t need to be inspired. It’s not about waiting for the muses to land. It’s about doing your job.

I had some really bad teachers that made art seem all about digging up personal demons and being on stage. That got creepy. They violated our boundaries in the name of art. It was icky and wrong and a detour.

My kids and family. Communication. Inspiring other people.

Life is long. People tell you that life is short. That is a lie. Life is long. You can take things one step at a time. It’s okay to be a logical artist. It’s okay to have a healthy lifestyle and a family.

You can do this on your own terms. You don’t have to do it like anyone else has ever done it. Invent your own way to get where you want to go.

Yes. I’ve made many mistakes. I’ve taken many rabbit trails on my path. I would have been a little smarter when I was getting my education and been a little bit more realistic. I would have explored my passion for education and gotten not just my bachelors of fine arts degree but also my certification in teaching.

At the time, the advice I was given was, “Gosh you are so good and so talented, just go for it honey.” I ended up being successful early on and then hitting a dry patch. I didn’t have anything else to do. I got utterly crushed for awhile and lost a few years.

What I would have done differently is not pigeon hole myself only as an artist. It’s okay to do other things too.

I don’t have much. I’m an avid reader. I like quiet things. I really like meditation.

That was a tricky piece to my puzzle. I got pregnant with my son Jake when I first got my equity contract at the Alley Theater. Several people told me that I had to choose. I had to either be a mom or an actress. You can not do two things at once. That’s just not true.

I couldn’t follow the traditional path that people have taken to become successful in my field, which is go to New York, starve and wait tables. Once you have children they become the center of your world. That’s right and proper.

But you can find a way to fulfill your passions and dreams without harming them. I absolutely believe that. This one-woman show represents that to me.

My current project, Bald in the Land of Big Hair, came about after I reconnected with a group of my friends on Facebook. I had done one performance of the play years ago at my church and it was really effective. Someone suggested that I utilize my friends, revive the play and tour with it. So now, I have a think tank of friends on Facebook who are helping me with everything from script development to fund raising to publicity to directing to graphics. It’s a one-woman show on stage but there are about 50 people behind me helping me get this done.

I started acting when I was nine. I loved it and couldn’t get enough of it. Acting got me a full ride to college at a small liberal arts college in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I got my BA in theater.

From there I went to the Alley Theater. I was in the resident company in their internship program. Then I got hired as part of their professional company for five years. That was pretty groovy and I learned a lot.

But then like most actresses I decided that I wanted to direct. I went off and got my masters of fine arts degree at Louisiana State University in directing.

After that, I fell in love with my husband and we moved to the island of St. Croix and directed Shakespeare, which was pretty idyllic. Shakespeare on an island. Is that not perfect?

I was also doing other little jobs and I started teaching at a little private school on the island. That’s when I started seeing the relationship between art and education. I was teaching kids who were having a hard time grasping science and math when it was taught in a traditional way. When I started introducing concepts like dance and theater it started making new pathways in their brains. They were kinetic learners. That planted a seed with me that is finally coming to fruition 15 years later.

I got pregnant and had two beautiful children. I have another child from a previous marriage. I took a six year long maternity leave. During that time I did volunteer work teaching drama and story telling.

Now my kids are old enough that I can stick my toe back into my profession. I am now getting my certification in teaching. I’m going to take the kind of thing that I have been doing for years in private schools and art camps into the public schools.

I plan on touring the one-woman show in the summers and during breaks. What is beautiful with a one-woman show is that I can devote my time to my family fully and also have my art and fulfillment and career.

I had kind of a rough childhood that I had to overcome. We didn’t come from money. There was addiction and ickyness in the family. I had to process some of that.