I have always been a storyteller.
As a kid, I became enamored by musicals. I would memorize cast albums and put on shows for my family. I am the youngest of 6, by a long shot, and my siblings put up with many of these special performances. Whenever my siblings would be off playing sports in a nearby field, my mom would occupy me with bringing me to a bandshell where I would give her rousing performances such as this one.
Beginning the journey
This quickly led to me asking my parents to join a choir, where I got my first big solo. At age 11, I performed in my first professional shows, as Tiny Tim in Drury Lane Theatreās A Christmas Carol and originating the role of Harold Baxter in Hazel: a Musical Maid in America. (right) I also sang in my first opera, as Spirit #1 in Die Zauberflƶte at Lyric Opera of Chicago.Ā
Love Never Dies
In seventh grade, I sent in a tape for the first national tour of Love Never Dies. I had just seen Phantom of the Opera for the first time and I loved it. A few weeks later, I was invited to a callback in New York and ended up being hand-picked by Andrew Lloyd Webber to tour the country as Christineās son, Gustave.
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The tour was one of the most defining moments of my life so far. Iām so blessed to have performed with some of the brightest talents, toured to 19 different cities, and worked for one of my heroes.
āAnd true to form, Lloyd Webber ā ever the talent scout ā has made another brilliant discovery, this time in Casey Lyons as the boy, whose angelic vocals and subdued acting are a marvel."
- Deborah Wilker, Hollywood Reporter
Limelight
After the tour, I returned home, excited to use the things I learned to tell more stories. My sophomore year at Loyola Academy, I decided to get some friends together to put up a performance of Limelight. Limelight was an original musical that I had been working on since 2017. I had workshopped parts of it with cast mates from Love Never Dies. We rehearsed for two months, and performed the show twice, both to sold out audiences at Theater Wit in Chicago. With that performance we raised $3,000 for one of my favorite charities Saving tiny Hearts Society.Ā
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Then came the pandemic. Not letting the shutdown stop progress on Limelight, a few of my cast members from Love Never Dies graciously agreed to be on a remote demo album.Ā
Bars of Ivy
In January of 2021, I discovered a video about the 2019 college admissions scandal. This led to me writing a song about it and thinking it would make a good song cycle. What was a one-off song for a song-cycle became a full length musical called Bars of Ivy: The College Admissions Scandal Musical, written by me and Caroline Miller. We premiered the show at the John and Nancy Hughes Theater in Lake Forest that July, this time raising $6,000 for Saving tiny Hearts. The show was later put on as a concert during the One Acts Festival at Loyola.
A new adventure
I graduated from Loyola Academy in 2022 on the campus of Northwestern University, where the next step of my life was about to begin.
Northwestern begins
In fall of 2022, I began pursuing a dual degree in Voice & Opera and Theatre at Northwestern. So far this academic year at Northwestern, I have enjoyed performing in the Tichie-Finnio Master Class Series with Kangmin Justin Kim, the midwest premiere of Christopher Cerroneās In a Grove. I also had the amazing opportunity to perform in Brittenās Albert Herring with Chicago Opera Theater, under the baton of Dame Jane Glover. Other highlights of Northwestern so far have been meeting new friends, graphic designing for various shows on campus, and the view from the Ryan Center for Musical Arts. (Really, though, I mean come on.)
In the Night
November 2022 also saw the release of my debut singer-songwriter album āIn the Nightā. A year and a half in the making, this album features some of my best friends and is available on all streaming platforms.
