Q: What has performing arts taught you that you have applied to your everyday life and how you engage in the world? 

I think the way I approach everything is with a lot of passion, pathos, and humanity. You have to do that as an artist. You have to view the world a bit differently. You have to have an opinion but also be accepting of other opinions. You need to create characters from different backgrounds. Being an artist is about openness and humanity.

Q: How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected you as a performing artist?

With Broadway Dreams, I’m employed full-time through the year. I’m still working for them. We started giving free classes Monday through Friday for two hours a day. We have had upwards of 400 kids join us on Zoom every day from all over the world. They log in and take class. I do interviews with Broadway people. We have agents and casting people. We still provide content free of charge during this time. Broadway Dreams operates during the summer, from June to September. We do over 10 intensives in the US and in Germany. We have to wait and see if we can even do that. I’m supposed to be in Russia next week. We were supposed to do a program there. Obviously, we’re not doing that. That’s cancelled. We’ll have to see how it plays out for the summer. We have a meeting to discuss that tomorrow, to figure out possible alternative plans. Nobody knows how this will play out.