Amy Gray

Amy is a listener, learner, lover of the written word who makes art by night as a player and by day as a scribbler, warbler, and ivory tickler. She has recorded vocals on 4 original cast albums and likes to tap dance. Amy toured throughout the United States as the lead in I Never Saw Another Butterfly and she received two Ostrander awards and five nominations for acting from The Memphis Arts Council. Following her award-winning performance as Stephano in The Tempest, she landed in Chicago to portray Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and direct Twelfth Night . Amy is deeply interested in the human need to tell stories and make theatre even in circumstances where basic necessities for survival are absent. Her thesis on “Theatre for Survival” illuminates the plays that took place in concentration camps – and the wheel has come full circle with her portrayal of Manicka in the Chicago premiere of one of those plays, The Last Cyclist. Amy trained at the School at Steppenwolf (Chicago), Oxford University (England), Accademia dell’Arte (Italy), Rhodes College (Memphis) and is grateful that theatre is a space where listeners can still practice their art.     Amy’s project completed in 2019:     On the Spot Theatre: The Mother in SONS AND LOVERS , adapted from D. H. Lawrence’s semi-autobiographical novel. Like Lawrence’s mother, this matriarch marries a miner and consequently feels constrained by being relegated to a working class life. The play centers on Paul Morel, an artist who cannot reciprocate love for other women while under the influence of his stifling mother. Unconsciously taught to despise his father and eschew other women, when he eventually does fall in love, how will Paul overcome his tragic struggle between the desire for a normal loving relationship and the fidelity he feels for his mother? Is the mother an influence for good or evil in the lives of her sons?     Theatre Professional by night:      MadKap Productions: Claire in  PROOF    Strawdog Theatre: Marta (u/s) in  PILLARS OF THE COMMUNITY    Silk Road Rising: Beth (u/s) inTHROUGH THE ELEVATED LINE   Pursuing 7th year of Singing & Voice study with Roy Freeman.   Directed TWELFTH NIGHT at Edge of the Wood's Resident Theatre.     Other Recent Productions:      Doubled in the repertory roles of Julia in HOLIDAY and Masha in THE SEAGULL.   Completed the run of ZELDA AT THE OASIS as Zelda Fitzgerald.   Previously seen in Kaufman & Hart’s MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER as Lorraine.   Originated the role of Jupiter in JIM & DAVE(‘S BLOOD MEETS JUPITER).   Performed in Neil Simon’s BAREFOOT IN THE PARK as Corie.   Appeared in Shakespeare’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM as Titania.       Amy Gray’s After-Dark Story:  TRIPLE THREAT: Actor, Singer, Dancer    Amy was delighted to be recently reunited with the director she first worked with in Memphis, Wes Meador, to develop the character of Julia in HOLIDAY – which she performed in rep with the role of Masha in THE SEAGULL.  In her first role as an ensemble member at Edge of the Wood Resident Theatre, she was carried offstage in a mummy case during Act III of THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER when the wanton actress Lorraine Sheldon got her just desserts… Amy previously appeared onstage as Jupiter in the world premiere musical production JIM & DAVE(‘S BLOOD MEETS JUPITER) at the Raven produced by Project 891.    Chicago musical productions include:  THE SECRET GARDEN, FAME, SOME AIR and JIM & DAVE(‘S BLOOD MEETS JUPITER), which were both world premieres.  Other Chicago credits:  BAREFOOT IN THE PARK, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, THE LAST CYCLIST, CAST OF CHARACTERS, CHAPTER 2, EQUUS.  Out-of-town Musicals include:  OLIVER, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, ONCE UPON A MATTRESS, YOU’RE A GOOD MAN CHARLIE BROWN, BYE BYE BIRDIE, WIZARD OF OZ.  In Tennessee, she performed with The McCoy Theatre in UBU ROI, TONGUE OF A BIRD, THE TEMPEST, BIG LOVE, EQUUS, THE LARAMIE PROJECT, LA CAJA MISTERIOSA, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, GIANTS HAVE US IN THEIR BOOKS and appeared in a William Mastrosimone series as Marjorie in EXTREMITIES and Rose in THE WOOLGATHERER.    She toured throughout the United States as the lead in I NEVER SAW ANOTHER BUTTERFLY; can be heard singing on original cast recordings of REVEREND AUSTEN’S DAUGHTER, JIM & DAVE(‘S BLOOD MEETS JUPITER) and MOONJAYS AND MOTORCYCLES; and voiced the role of Cathleen in a recording of J. M. Synge’s classic RIDERS TO THE SEA.    Amy’s greatest passion is reading plays.  She fulfilled a lifelong ambition by serving on the Play-Finding Committees of 3 different theatre companies in the Chicagoland area and currently coordinates or participates in 3 informal play-reading groups monthly.      Amy Gray’s Press Bio:     Received a scholarship to study at The School at Steppenwolf   Wrote her thesis paper “Theatre for Survival”, establishing a new classification of the art form   Honored by Rhodes College with the Outstanding Senior Theatre Major Award   Awarded the Best Supporting Actress Ostrander by the Memphis Arts Council for her role in THE TEMPEST   Nominated for the Best Actress Ostrander by the Memphis Arts Council for her role in UBU ROI   Nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Ostrander by the Memphis Arts Council for her role in TONGUE OF A BIRD   Awarded the Best Supporting Actress Ostrander by the Memphis Arts Council for her role in EQUUS   Nominated for the Best Actress Ostrander by the Memphis Arts Council for her role in BIG LOVE   Received Rhodes College’s prestigious Fine Arts Scholarship for Theatre   Named Valedictorian for her graduating class at Hamilton High School   Honored to become the first teenager ever nominated for the Martha Whitt Award by Bevill State Theatre       Amy Gray’s Personal Details:   Born in Nebraska and proud to have been recently educated by the amazing ensemble at the School at Steppenwolf, Amy is an avid lover of books, handwritten letters, and the old-fashioned art of listening.   

SPECIAL SKILLS – VOCAL: Soprano (F3 to C6) with Dialects for RP, Midlands, Yorkshire, Cockney, Estuary, Irish, Polish, Italian, Spanish, American Southern and Midwestern; PHYSICAL: unarmed combat, stage falls and rolls, roller-skating, volleyball, long-distance running, racing in half marathons, Viennese waltz, American waltz, tap