I never felt much like a California girl until I moved to New York City. 

Born to east coast parents: a New Yorker Dad and a Baltimorean mom who said OUT like ALT and TOWEL like TAL, I knew I was an alien amongst my friends on the playground. Alien though I might have been, I fell in love with the beach culture of sun-drenched CA, and it was there that I cultivated my love for storytelling.

My mom is an actress and a singer, so films and plays were always the backdrop of my life, and musical cast recordings my soundtrack. I was four and change when my parents split, and around that time, mom decided to give acting a go professionally. She was my superstar and there was no question that I would follow in her footsteps.

My day arrived when, at the age of six, I was called to my first audition. Mom was in a production of Show Boat that had yet to cast a little girl in the role of “Kim.” My mom brought me in and when they asked me, “Danielle, do you have something to sing for us?”

I said to them, “Yes, I am going to sing for you, You Are My Sunshine. Would you like me to do it Operatic, or Country Western?”  

They said, “You choose.” 

I said, “Alright, I will sing it for you both ways.” 

And somehow I still got the part. The bug sank its teeth in me hard and the rest is history. 

I met my mentor, Jon Call in high school. A genius cinephile, he was highly trained in acting, voice, and dance, and he gave to me a 4 year master class in things like breathing, and phrasing, and Patti Lupone. I then went to study acting at Emerson College in Boston which further fed my hungry mind and wandering imagination.

My post college adventure began with a slight detour on the way to NYC when I was cast as Snow White in San Francisco’s long running, renowned review, Beach Blanket Babylon. San Francisco’s theatre community scooped me up in a tender embrace, but when I left “The Blanket”, it was time to move on from the poison apple to the big apple. 

It took a little while for me to find my way, but eventually I recovered my heart from San Francisco and gave it freely to NYC.  Along the way, I have taken part in several New Works projects and created roles in world premieres. I have acted in foreign tongues. I have performed for and with my heroes. I have co-written and co-produced my own web series. I practiced and I got to Carnegie Hall. My poetry has been rejected by The New Yorker at least three times. I have asked tourists for directions more times than I am comfortable admitting, but I have also confidently directed my fair share of tourists. I live here now. I am a New York actor.