ABOUT
Firm Foundation
Growing up, Taylor spent as much time onstage as she could! Some of the first shows she remembers performing in are A Charlie Brown Christmas and Camp Heart and Soul with her church, Pasadena Community Church. From here, Taylor went on to participate in a lot of different community theaters around St. Petersburg, Florida, where she spent nearly all of her childhood.
With St. Pete City Theatre, Taylor performed shows like Shrek Jr. and Alice In Wonderland Jr.. She also performed with American Stage in Mamma Mia Jr. and Frozen Jr.. These, among other small performances, helped expose Taylor to theatre early, and revealed her love for the form.
Taylor went to elementary school at Perkins Elementary, an arts magnet in St. Pete, where she was mentored by the school’s theatre teacher, Tim Topper. Topper helped Taylor find her voice, and encouraged her to continue to reach for her dreams. He introduced her to many different genres of musical theatre, and taught her proper theatre etiquette. Topper allowed Taylor to think of performing as a real career choice, which inspired her to get to where she is now.
Taylor decided to attend high school at Gibbs High School in St. Pete, to participate in their Pinellas County Center for the Arts (PCCA) program. This program is well known in the area for it’s rigorous theatre training, and after getting accepted, Taylor knew she had to attend.
In the Flow
While at PCCA, Taylor had the opportunity to perform in many different shows, some of her favorites to this day are She Loves Me, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (on which she worked as a dresser for the Dysquiths), The Mad Ones, and her senior show, Company. She spent some time in choir as well, and with help of her classical voice teacher Joyce Liu, Taylor was able to expand her range and variation when singing. Through PCCA, Taylor also competed in the Florida Thespian Festivals at both district and state levels. She participated in what she could, but with COVID-19 affecting the nation during her sophomore year, her Thespians career had to be put on hold. Senior year though, Taylor came back to lead her small group to an Honorable Mention with the song Murder Ballad.
In addition to performing, Taylor also spent many hours in the school’s costume shop, where her teacher Patricia Donnelly taught her a great deal about costume design and construction. From this, Taylor assisted in costume construction primarily for Something Rotten! and She Loves Me, and competed in the costume design category at Musical Theatre Competitions of America (MTCA).
Taylor was also a bit busy outside of performing. She was a life long Girl Scout, and in her senior year obtained her Gold Award, which is the equivalent to a Boy Scout’s Eagle Scout Award. Taylor was a member of Bay Area Performing Arts and Casting (BAPAC), with whom she was able to perform in many shows, including Bye Bye Birdie, Camp Rock, Elf` and many other cabaret like performances. With BAPAC, Taylor also attended MTCA and Junior Theatre Festival (JTF), where she was able to befriend fellow high schoolers and participate in workshops with industry professionals.
Takeoff!
For college, Taylor decided to pursue a BFA in Musical Theatre at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida. Once she arrived, she added a major in Communications with a focus in Advertising and Public Relations as well, to really round out her education. Before she knew it, she was performing in her first show at Florida Southern, a straight play called A Tuna Christmas. Her freshman year, Taylor also decided to join a sorority on campus, Zeta Tau Alpha. While in Zeta, she join the Executive Council as VP of Member Experience (Rituals), and served on the Programs Council as both Housing Manager and Director of Sisterhood.
Taylor also decided to join the board of Vagabonds, the theatre department club on campus. While serving as Treasurer, Taylor worked hard to raise money for the senior class to participate in their BFA Showcase in New York after graduation. It was extremely important to Taylor that she used her position to help the members as much as possible, because, as she says, “why hold the position if you aren’t going to enact good?”
By the time Taylor was finished performing at FSC, she had been in a total of 6 mainstage shows, A Tuna Christmas, Urinetown, The Children, Pippin, Legally Blonde, and Carousel. She also participated in a number of student produced/directed shows, including Painting Churches by Tina Howe, and Jay’s Narrative , a short play written by an FSC alumn, Nathan Bell. It was through all of these amazing experiences that Taylor was able build lasting connection, and find passion in more diverse types of theatre.
After graduation, Taylor will be hitting the road with Missoula Children’s Theatre for the 3rd summer in a row, this time, accompanied by her best friend Rachel Weiner. The pair are extremely excited for this new adventure, and for what awaits them after!