One of the strangest things about failure is that it doesn’t always show up when you’re struggling. Sometimes it shows up right after a win. You teach a great class. Direct a great show. Get accepted to a festival. Receive a standing ovation. Sell tickets. Launch a program. Things are moving. People are congratulating you. From the outside, it looks like everything is working. Then the next thing doesn’t. The workshop doesn’t fill. The audition numbers are low. The email gets ignored. The...

I’ve been performing since I was five years old. FIVE! The stage has always been home. The lights, the laughter, the energy in a room when something lands . That immediate feedback from an audience—those laughs, that collective breath, that electric “yes”—it feeds me. It always has. I still love being onstage. I don’t feel done with it. Not even close. And yet. Somewhere along the way, something unexpected happened. I started finding more fulfillment in front of the classroom (although — I...

For a long time, I thought being a good director, teacher, or ensemble member meant having answers. Giving notes. Building structures. Setting the tone. And while all of that matters, the longer I do this work, the more I realize something else is just as important — sometimes more important. Making space. Not spotlight space. Not “my vision” space. But real, intentional space for other people to grow into who they are becoming. Over the last few years, as my roles in this community...