Since austin was able to stand on his two feet, he loved to perform and play pretend. growing up outside the city of chicago and the son of two lawyers, austin wasn’t born in a terribly artistic household. however, both of his grandfathers were professional painters, so he definitely had some artistic genes in him somewhere.
it wasn’t until he entered elementary school and began participating in the annual school opera did austin discover his love for performing and storytelling. throughout each year, austin always looked forward to singing songs and dressing in costumes on-stage with his friends.
while reading a section of the local newspaper one day, austin’s dad noticed a tiny ad for a local theater that was holding auditions for their production of “Big: The Musical”. austin couldn’t wait to audition for the show and once he was cast as the father of tom hanks’ character (yep, he played an 8-year old dad), his eyes were opened to the world of musical theater.
he began doing every show at this theater throughout junior high and once he hit high school, he began auditioning for the plays and musicals there. while participating in as many shows as he could, austin was also a part of his school’s a capella and choir groups, along with taking dance classes as his gym elective. all of this performing arts experience in high school led him to auditioning for and accepting an opportunity to study at the hartt school of theatre in hartford, ct.
while at the hartt school, austin received his bfa in actor training and studied at the prestigious drama studio london in the Uk. after graduation, austin made the move to nyc and has been lucky enough to have worked with titan theatre company on their recent production of “A christmas carol”.
