Quote

While I was growing up all over, in all my different schools, I was always doing theater, auditioning for plays.

I did children's theater when I was younger, and then when I was about 14 I started doing theater in New York City.

My father is a university professor so when the schools needed a little kid for their productions I was often the kid they used. The first time I was ever on stage was about 2nd grade.

I knew my own mother had been in the theater for a while and had taught children, because she used to teach me the pieces that she taught them, but she did much more than that.

As a child I was given the freedom to explore my passion for acting, but I also grew up in a home where there were a lot of rules. I didn't have 'yes' parents.

About 13-14 years ago, I went back to my alma mater, Fairfax High School, and ran into the music teacher. She invited me to come speak to the kids about the viability of a music career. When I went into the room where I used to play every day in a big orchestra, they had nothing!

I have visited schools that have music programs and those that don't. I see the way the kids act with each other.

I've been performing my whole life. My mom signed me up for a theater program when I was five - I was the evil queen in 'Once Upon a Mattress.'

My mother worked for a woman, Maria Ley-Piscator, who with her husband founded the Dramatic Workshop, which was connected to the New School. My mother did proofreading and typing and stuff or her, and as part of her payment, I was able to take acting classes there on Saturdays when I was 10.