Wazzup! I’m Nathan and I am a storyteller!

My love for movies has been strong since I was young. Movies are why I am a performer. One of the earliest real movies I remember watching as a child was Edward Scissorhands. It made me cry harder than anything had ever made me cry. The visual of Edward with his ice creations alone in his castle for all eternity, and Kim fondly remembering her younger days dancing in his creation carried a mass amount of wait for five-year-old me. I wept, and wept, and wept. I cried until I no longer remembered why I began to cry. Was it because of real-life issues? Was it because of the movie? Was it because of both? The storytellers that created that film, allowed me to feel emotions I had never experienced before. Movies could do that, actors could do that, and STORYTELLERS could do that. Each day I want to consume content that makes me laugh, makes me cry, and makes me feel emotions with the characters I am watching. As a performer, I learn from these stories. After watching movies, I know how to become a villain so heinous everyone hates me. I blend into a man so down on his luck, you cry for me. I transform into a goofy goober so silly you laugh at me (maybe with me?). Storytelling is bringing people into your world and making them believe it is theirs too.

When I was 4-years-old, my grandma and my mom took me to see a touring production of Annie. I don’t remember everything, but what I do remember is being mesmerized by the orphans slamming their cleaning buckets on the ground during “It’s a Hard Knock Life.” They were allowed to do that? They could throw stuff on the ground and make music unapologetically? My mother purchased the CD for me as we left the venue, and for at least a month, I ran around my living room singing the “Bucket Slamming Song.” I was hooked, I was inspired, and I wanted to BE Annie. I’ve never been Annie, and I more than likely will never be Annie, but that inspiration has kept me going for 20 years now, and every time I perform, I seek to plant that seed in every audience member, hoping they too will go home and sing their own “Bucket Slamming Song.”

My family: comprised of me, my dad, and my sister, have less of a family dynamic and more of the vibe that comes with a group of friends. We will always have very casual conversations together and give each other a hard time relating to different inside jokes we have with each other. One such inside joke relates to a trip we took to NYC. My dad purchased tickets to see an exhibit in the city, but when we presented the tickets they wouldn’t scan. My dad wondered why because he bought them straight off their website, and he knew they were real. He pleaded with them to try again; however, they explained to my father that they were two months old. My father had purchased tickets for the day he was buying them rather than the day we would be there. This was not the first time it happened and certainly not the last. We give my dad a hard time about it on occasion, but it’s all out of love because of how silly the situation becomes each time. My family is always supportive and loving, and I’m so lucky to have them.