I was fortunate in that my parents were committed to selflessly providing my siblings and I with as many opportunities as possible to explore our interests and dreams. Thanks to their support and love, I eventually found myself bitten by the "theater bug.”
By thirteen I was performing in youth programs and semi-professional theaters. At fifteen I entered the Orange County High School of the Arts. At sixteen, I aquired an agent and began landing television commercials and small TV guest spots. However, my proudest achievements during high school were excelling at academics and co-founding the Los Alamitos Gay-Straight Alliance.
By my senior year, I knew I wanted to pursue both a rigorous education and a career in the performing arts, so I attended University of California, Los Angeles's Ray Bolger Musical Theater Program. Here, I was able to continue my performing career (more TV, commercials and theater) while earning a bachelors degree at the top of my class. I also starred in a number of shows at UCLA, my favorites including Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and Sondheim's Company.
After graduating from UCLA, I was accepted into the UCLA graduate program in Theater and Performance Studies. I earned a Masters degree while simultaneously staring in Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun where I received a Backstage West Garland for Best Actor.
I then accepted a position teaching at Orange County High School of the Arts and continued to work professionally as an actor, including a three month stint down at the Welk Resort in San Diego.
In 2004, my partner, Eric Anderson, and I relocated to New York City where he taught and I pursued performing opportunities, worked on a documentary film about downtown performers and wrote theatre reviews for offoffonline.com
After the re-election of George Bush, we moved to England for a refreshing change and to accept teaching positions - Eric at University of Bath, and myself at Bath Spa University. However, I was soon diagnosed with stage IV rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive type of cancer.
The cancer was successully treated after fifteen months of intensive chemotherapy, radiation and numerous surgieries. Once recovered, I entered the PhD program at University of London, Royal Holloway with three years of research funding.
Surviving the prognosis of only a 5% chance of living beyond five years has change my perspective on many things. I am deeply grateful to be one of the few survivors of adult metastatic rhabdomyosarcoma. Eric and I now treat each day as a gift (after all, it is called the present!). Additionally, In an attempt to secure and celebrate equal rights for same-sex couples, we have a curious hobby of getting married in different US states and world countries and adding to our Marriage Hall of Fame.
