Night of Christmas @ The Rady Shell
On December 6th of this year, The Rady Shell hosted a production by Awaken Theater called Night of Christmas to ring in the beginning of the Christmas season. In their third year with this venue, I was given the honor of performing as a lead vocalist alongside a talented cast including aerialists and a full choir.
Our cast also featured two headliners of which one was singer Kim-Walker Smith. One of the numbers I had the privilege of performing in, We Three Kings, featured our other headliner, Austin French. Just a night and two shows, but it was the perfect way to begin the end of the year.
California Debut & Awaken Theater
Earlier this year, I was cast as one of my favorite roles to date - Angel 1 - in Hero The Rock Musical. In this rock adaptation of the Easter story, the role challenged and strengthened my vocal stamina as well as pushed me to develop a further presence of authority onstage.
Before playing an Angel, my journey with Awaken Theatre included a few other productions, with the first being Twisted: The Musical (2023 & 2024). While having 80's pop and 1800's London as the backdrop, the most recent adaptation of the story gave room for more storytelling in form of promotional reels, including this small clip of Alone by Heart as performed by Mary's Friend.
And then there was the opposite end of being an Angel by performing as a Demon a year earlier in Hero The Rock Musical (2024). With it's high demand of physical stamina and presence of excellence, every Awaken Theatre show exceeded expectation!
One of my all time favorites was playing Elinor Dashwood in 2018
Between my first show in 2012 and moving to the Golden State, I've had the priviledge of enjoying several roles from a community stage in Louisiana, a few stages in Texas, and (briefly) a small stage in New York.
Annie Oakley (Annie Get Your Gun) in 2022
Before graduating with my Musical Theatre BFA in 2020, my goal was to hit the ground running with auditions as soon as I had my diploma in hand. But, like many of the graduates that year, my acting plans took a pause.
Julia Sullivan (The Wedding Singer) in 2023
Because of that pause which changed my plans, I was set on a path that actually led me somewhere unexpected a few years later.
Teaching the Next Generation
In the beginning of 2022, I was blessed to serve as creative director at the youth community theatre that I loved in high school. Within my time there, I directed/assisted in the teams of five full shows, one summer show workshop, and the non-profit's first production of a 24HR Musical.
Featured are Victoria's final two directed shows: Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella in 2023 (top) and A Christmas Carol in 2022 (bottom)
Now, teaching the next generation of artists is a new passion that began because of a change of my plans. So as I continue to audition, I keep an open heart and mind toward opportunities to teach the arts again.
