Hi Eric! Like Edison, you
weren’t born in the Garden
State, but you make your home
here. Tell me where you were
raised and how being a ‘Jersey
Boy’ may have influenced you.
My family is from Pennsylvania
and I was born just northwest
of Philadelphia. We moved to
Freehold when I was just a preschooler. Aside from college in
Philadelphia and a few years
living in Passaic County in the
‘90s, I’ve been here at the Jersey
Shore pretty much all my life.
Growing up in Freehold in the
‘70s and ‘80s was a great time schools and recreation programs
were very arts friendly plus we
had the new phenomenon of
this local guy named Bruce. His
exploding success inspired and
supported tons of local misfits,
I’m sure. Monmouth County
wasn’t nearly as developed then
- more woods, more farms, far
fewer homes. When I wasn’t at
New Jersey Stage
the beaches between Asbury
Park and Island Beach or sailing
on Barnegat Bay, I was playing
Planet of the Apes in the woods,
building tree houses, or catching
turtles up at Durand’s Pond.
When did you first start acting?
I got my first acting and writing experience in a 4th grade
stage adaptation of The Hobbit - I played Thorin. The reading
class also wrote and performed
monthly radio plays broadcast
over the school’s intercom.
Were you in your high school
plays? I was extremely active
in high school plays. I went to
Freehold High School - the Boro
- and we performed unusual
stuff for a high school: plays by
Capote, Inge, Tennessee Williams, musicals like The Apple
Tree, The Boy Friend, and Little
Mary Sunshine.
Did you study acting in college or go to an acting school?
I went to Temple University in
www.NewJerseyStage.com
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