Today we’d like to introduce you to Ava Mize.
Hi Ava, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My family says I came out of the womb a drama queen. I have been performing for people as long as I can remember. At first it was small things like making up dances in my living room or singing “Hey Soul Sister” in the car. As I got older I was asked to read books for small concerts in school or perform solos. When I was about 7 or 8 my mother took me and my brother to go see a community theater children’s show. We looked in the playbill and saw that they were offering acting classes, so my mom signed me up. From then on I was hooked. Acting in my first show of Peter Pan as one of the lost boys. I then got into musicals playing Gabriella in High School Musical and Annie in Annie. Then came Shakespeare with me playing Snug in A Midsummer Nights Dream. I kept acting and auditioning for shows anywhere and everywhere. My freshman year of high school my best friend told me about a new performing arts school that was opening and be both decided to audition. We got accepted and I spent the next three years honing my craft. I learned acting, singing, dancing, writing, stage craft, production management, and so much more. By the time my senior year rolled around I had decided to pursue acting full time. After two years of working and acting whenever I can I made the choice to return to college next year!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Nothing about my journey has been smooth. I delt with a lot of self confidence issues from a very young age. That only seemed to worsen the older I got. I would often put up a big bold front to hide the fact that I felt alone and doubted my abilities everyday. After graduating high school I lost my way. I bounced aimlessly from job to job. I stopped acting or creating at all. That all became almost to much for me to handle and a year ago I made the decision to take my own life. I thought that was as bad as it could get, but I was wrong. From then on my relationships with family and friends began to fall off, I was isolating more than ever. I made a lot of drastic decisions. However I regret none of them because some turned out to be the best decisions of my life, and the others I learned very valuable lessons from.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Like I said previously I have been training from a very young age. As I got older I learned to appreciate all aspects of the theatrical art form. I worked as a set designer, a stage manager, a props manager, an AD, a writer. My love for the art has only ever grown these past few years. I really did fall in love with playwrighting though. My senior year I won AATE’s 2024 playwrights for change competition at the high school level. My play Universal Reunion is now available in a compendium that can be used by educational theaters. Currently I am working on two new writing pieces (an anthology of 10-minute plays based on music and a full length script I am co-writing with one of my dear friends)! I am also currently acting in Storybook Productions A Christmas Carol Reimagined and am an assistant stage manager for Players Guilds A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
Yes two things:
– First of all, you are so much bigger than your situation. Don’t ever loose sight of that.
– Second, if there is something you’ve always wanted to do but can never seem to find the opportunity, create it yourself.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://resumes.actorsaccess.com/AvaMize
- Instagram: @a.mize28
