Theresa grew up in Orange County, California and did all the things a kid should do: she played the piano, tap danced, gave the soccer ball a few kicks, poured salt on snails, swam in the pool, went to church, and collected stuffed animals. Theresa made her debut as a performer at the tender age of 5 at her tap class's spring dance performance called Dance A Rainbow. Shortly after that gig, at the local ice cream parlor, she got her first taste of fame when her father duped her into standing on top of the table to shuffle-ball-change for the entire restaurant. Was that a first taste of fame or humiliation? Hum.
Here's how the rest of her life unfolds:
Middle School: Private Catholic Elementary, 1st through 8th grade. Plaid skirts. Bibles. Too many rules. No make up. No jewelry. No nothing. It was pretty much like prison. To this day, Theresa has an aversion towards plaid. But good things did happen in grade school. She learned how to play the piano, she was in a few theatrical shows and she participated in Girl Scouts.
High School: First day of freshman year was pretty petrifying since she knew hardly anyone and didn't quite know how to dress in anything but hideous plaid pleats and oxford shirts. But she faired well and made friends with the right peeps pretty easily. Choir became a huge part of her life. She was Second Soprano in Women's Ensemble, Chamber Singers, and the elite Madrigals. They kicked major butt and won awards. She was in a few musicals as well: Ensemble of
Bye Bye Birdie, and Princess #12 in
Once Upon A Mattress. Theresa swam on the Junior Varsity Swim Team and was Vice President of her Senior Class.
College: She went on to further develop her creative talents at Cal State University of Fullerton where she received her BA in Performing Arts with an emphasis in Musical Theatre. While earning her degree, Theresa performed in shows within the Theatre Department as well as Community and Professional Theatre. She also drove back and forth to Los Angeles for student films and agent meetings. She wasted no time while being a student, she used almost every free moment to kick that door open. Well, ok that's a lie; she partied like the rest of them too!
She and Ryan Simmons did their Senior Cabarets back to back. This was one photo from the flyer.
After the whirlwind of classes, auditions, shows, jobs, parties, traveling (to Italy!!), turning 21 and graduation, Theresa packed up the back of her Ford Probe and moved a whole 45 miles away from her parents house to Los Angeles.
Los Angeles, CA: She found a cute studio apartment in Los Feliz and settled in. She pursued acting, studied with acting teacher Joe Salazar, sang on recordings and performed in shows - including a breakfast show with Belle and Gaston at The Disneyland Hotel. She also was hired to play Beth in a musical workshop production of
Little Women. While performing the show at The Stella Adler Theatre on Hollywood Blvd, she was "discovered" by a record producer who put her on
The Stephen Sondheim Album!Los Angeles was pretty cool, if you subtract the traffic, the road rage, the smog, the anorexics with fake boobs, the superficial people; but her life long dream of moving to New York City kept tugging at her heartstrings. So she took the plunge, sold all of her belongings, said goodbye to practically everyone she knew, and bailed.
New York, NY: Theresa lived in NYC for eight and a half years where she sang on more recordings, did commercial and print work, a few cabarets, studied acting with another fabulous acting teacher (Alice Spivak), and performed in tons of shows in NYC and Regionally throughout the country.
She also took on new creative challenges as a theatre director and author. She made her directing debut Off-Broadway at The Players Theater in the west village with Richard Vetere's
How To Go Out On A Date In Queens. She has also just completed 2 children's books.
NYC is and was everything Theresa imagined it to be: invigorating, beautiful, inspiring, scary, thrilling, demanding, frustrating, full of opportunity, intense, freeing, romantic, disgusting, lonely, fantastic, expensive, challenging, diverse.
Currently: Theresa has now moved back to Orange County, California - Home Sweet Home - where she continues to live out her artistic dreams.
