Member-only story

An Interview with Actress Alyssa Simon

Jennifer Woods
6 min readOct 4, 2021

--

Alyssa Simon

Alyssa Simon is co-starring in the soon-to-be-released stage to film production “ The Confession of John Wilkes Booth.” I wanted to learn more about her acting career, past and present projects.

Alyssa, what is your acting background?

I was raised in South Florida and studied painting and drawing at Florida School of The Arts in Palatka, Fl. My first college summer job was in the ensemble of the Florida state play in St. Augustine. After tryouts, the show’s choreographer said, “Honey, you’re not a dancer,” so she gave me a drum to play. I was hooked! From there, I changed my major to theatre and after I graduated with a BFA from Florida International University, I did plays throughout the state before coming to New York to attend Stella Adler Conservatory. That was about twenty years ago and I’ve worked in independent theatre, film, and cabaret since.

Can you share a few past acting projects?

In 2017, I played Alice B. Toklas in The Marriage Of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein, written and directed by Edward Einhorn of Untitled Theater Co. #61. It was a NYT Critics Pick Of The Week and we were supposed to move it to London to play at the Jermyn Theatre in April 2020. And then…you know. But we may get a chance to put it up again this Spring-fingers crossed! I’m also part of a wonderful theatre company called Gemini CollisionWorks, helmed by Ian W. Hill and Berit Johnson. Every year, our group of about twelve core members and guest artists who we then consider CollisionWorkers forevermore, devise a play that Ian then writes. The work is experimental and complex, but not heady. As Ian writes in his shows’ bio for the audience, “It is a pleasure to work for you.” Since we can’t all meet on stage yet, we’ve created the chart-topping Life With Althaar, a very sweet, funny, and smart sci-fi comedy serial podcast, available wherever you download media. I play Lt. Frallen Br’aar, a 27 dimensional and near-omnipotent cloud.

Why did you become an actress?

I think when I was given that drum, something awakened in me that I had forgotten. I was an only child of a working single mom and had a lot of alone time. I would create stories from the songs in my mother’s record collection and act out every part in our living room. I was a one-kid…

--

--

Jennifer Woods
Jennifer Woods

Written by Jennifer Woods

Entertainment Writer, Books, Authors, Politics, Indie Films, Lifestyle, Tech, Start-ups

No responses yet

Write a response