Ashley-Wool.com

My name is Ashley Wool...

...and if you're going to negatively judge my professionalism by the fact that I'm writing in the first-person, or you have a problem with the fact that I'm not about to paint a pretty little overblown picture of an up-and-coming oMg SuPeRsTaR...please just GTFO. I'm a young woman with a passion for music and theatre and songwriting who'd like to make a living out of it, and it's no easier for me than it is for anyone else who's legitimately talented and legitimately dedicated. And if you want to know more about it (which I suppose you do, since you're here), I'm gonna give it to you straight. No sugar-coating, but no self-deprecation either. Just reality. Well, the interesting parts.

The live stage romanced my psyche at a young age. I wasn't a particularly self-conscious kid and didn't understand the concept of "stage fright." My first theatrical role was as a robin in a first-grade play, but it was my first ballet recital that truly gave me a taste of the magical world of the stage--to this day, I get a happy adrenaline rush in the pit of my stomach whenever I smell Aquanet hairspray.

The following year, at age 7, I wrote my first songs to accompany a "butterfly rock star" Halloween costume, which I'd planned months in advance. I continued writing songs throughout elementary and middle school, breaking into song on the playground or the gym class balance beam, even forming a girl group with my two best friends. We pooled our (limited) life experiences and musical abilities to create a bevy of pop songs that I still believe are better than a lot of the crap on mainstream radio today...unfortunately, our songs didn't reach much of an audience beyond the next-door neighbor and her blind and deaf dog, but now and then, bits and pieces will sneak back into my current work.

When I hit middle school, I was desperate to move past the nerdy image that the elmentary school hierarchy had cultivated for me. My coming-of-age was punctuated by getting the lead in the school musical (which inflated my ego to an unhealthy extent), having a major falling-out with a childhood friend, having abusive teachers who stole my journal and messed with my state exam grades, and having a crush on a boy that was publicized to a ridiculous extent. That was when I came to rely on music and songwriting as a way to make sense of things. My 90's-tastic Casio keyboard was my best friend, and in the summer of 2000, I used its background beats as instrumentation to record a makeshift album of original songs. It was terrible, but it was mine, and it was the release and the fantasy that I needed.

After most of my friends grew out of playing rock star, I went off to pursue a musical theatre degree at SUNY Geneseo (a liberal arts school in a charming, if stereotypical college town, with one bookstore and five bars), where I participated in college and community musicals, sang in a jazz ensemble, fell head over heels in love with choral singing, and recorded my first album of original songs, Not Otherwise Specified, at a local studio that used to be the town asylum (coincidence? I think not).

The 7-song EP got airplay on last.fm, XM Radio, American Idol Underground, and a bunch of other grassroots radio shows. My song "You Got Me There" managed to get me top 60 consideration in the Best Bands on MySpace contest sponsored by Rolling Stone Magazine, but since they only publicly announced the top 25 winners, I have no way of substantiating this (the person who informed me of this was a RS intern who managed the magazine's MySpace and had taken an interest in my material; he had little pull in the contest's outcome and no records were kept). All things considered, for a raw album recorded live on less than 24 tracks--no synths, no Pro Tools, absolutely NO Autotune--I have to say it did pretty well for itself.

Since graduating Geneseo, I've been working on some new music and chipping away at the tough shell of the New York theatre scene. So far I've worked in Westchester County at the White Plains Performing Arts Center and Westchester Sandbox Theatre, in TriBeCa with the Village Light Opera Group, Off-Broadway with The Actor's Project NYC, at Don't Tell Mama doing some sweet little cabaret shows and, through an extraordinary stroke of awesome, I even found myself onstage at a sold-out Radio City Music Hall singing with the magnificent Dessoff Symphonic Choir for a live-to-projection performance of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. I'm not gonna bother listing specific credits; that's what resumes are for. But I've done some cool stuff and I'm gonna do more.

As for the music...my second album has been in the works for a while. It will be called Right Now...But Not Yet and I've begun a "making of" blog to take you through the process (and to prove that I'm not just being a lazy bum about it).

And that's where I am.

Keep tabs on the "News" page for all the latest updates. All of this is just the beginning.

Music

Right Now...But Not Yet (in progress)

1. It's All On You

2. Disposable (The Crayon Song)

3. What We Do

4. The Valley

5. I Hope You're Happy

6. Overtime

7. Why We Were Wrong

8. A Reason Not To Cry

9. Underrated

10. Vestibule

11. Unattended Candle

12. Her Time Will Come

Not Otherwise Specified (2006)

1. Automatoronic

2. Belle Of Your Ball

3. You Got Me There

4. I Dare Ya

5. Brendan

6. Cheap Venus

7. Still Here

Please visit ReverbNation to preview new songs!.

reverbnation.com/ashleywool

Steal this stuff and I'll sue.

Tab Tab

Theatre

Wool Ashley Theatrical Resume.pdf

Theatre

New York Theatre

Fiddler on the Roof - Ensemble - Village Light Opera Group, Tony Spinosa, dir.

Wicked Love - Cookie Jar Killer - June Havoc Theatre, Bobby Holder, dir.

Faces of Theatre - Disgruntled White Chick - Abingdon Theatre, Bobby Holder, dir.

Tears of Laughter - Featured Singer - Abingdon Theatre, Bobby Holder, dir.

Edge of Comedy - Featured Singer - Abingdon Theatre, Bobby Holder, dir.

Regional & Educational Theatre

Spring Awakening - Thea - Main Street Arts Center, Paul Andrew Perez, dir.

Xanadu - Clio/Kira - White Plains Performing Arts Ctr., Linda Duci, dir.

Little Shop of Horrors - Chiffon - Westchester Sandbox, Benjamin Sterling Cannon, dir.

The Wedding Singer - Crystal/Mutant - White Plains Performing Arts Ctr., Jeremy Quinn, dir.

Sweet Charity - Charity - White Plains Performing Arts Ctr, Jeremy Quinn, dir.

The Rocky Horror Show - Columbia - White Plains Performing Arts Center, Jeremy Quinn, dir.

La Boheme - Choral Ensemble - Mercury Opera Rochester, Michael Ehrman, dir.

Joseph...Dreamcoat - Angel Soloist/Feat. Dancer - Alice Austin Theatre, Bettina Debell, dir.

The Wizard of Oz - Apple Tree/Feat. Dancer - Alice Austin Theatre, Gail Nelli, dir.

The Threepenny Opera - Dolly - SUNY Genseo, Melanie Blood, dir.

The Robber Bridegroom - Airie - SUNY Geneseo, Alan Case, dir.

Two Gentlemen of Verona - Ensemble - SUNY Geneseo, Alan Case, dir.

Younger Years:

I know, I know, it's one of those "professionalism" rules that high school credits don't belong on resumes, so I don't list these when I go on auditions. But my high school theatre program was far above average in its rigor, educational value, and production value, and the more experience I obtain, the more grateful I am to these directors, who went above and beyond to give me a solid foundation to build upon. It feels unfair to not give Lakeland High School Wig 'n' Whiskers a place on this site, considering it holds such a huge place in my heart.

Sweet Charity - Betsy/Nickie u/s - Linda Duci, dir.

The Me Nobody Knows - Lillie Mae - Linda Duci, dir.

Southern Fried Murder - Maggie St. Lawrence - Susan Lozinski, dir.

Footloose - Urleen - Linda Duci, dir.

George M! - Agnes Nolan - Annete Vaccaro, dir.

Fools - Slovitch - Susan Lozinski, dir.

The King and I - Princess Ying Yaowlak/Feat. Ballet Singer - Annette Vaccaro, dir.

Timmy: An Adaptation of Dickens' A Christmas Carol - Little Fan - Annette Vaccaro, dir.

Video

"Xanadu" Finale
Pirate Jenny - Ashley Wool 4.6.10
Come To Your Senses - Ashley Wool 5.25.10
I'm Not Interested in You - Ashley Wool
Batti, batti, o bel Masetto - Ashley Wool
Stranger to the Rain - Ashley Wool

more on YouTube

Pictures

Headshot by Kerri Hamm
Xanadu
Xanadu
Xanadu
Xanadu
Xanadu
Xanadu
Little Shop of Horrors
Sweet Charity
Sweet Charity
Sweet Charity Promo Photo
Sweet Charity Promo Photo
Rocky Horror 2012
Rocky Horror 2012
Rocky Horror 2012
Rocky Horror 2011
Rocky Horror 2011
In the Spotlight screen shot
In the Spotlight screen shot

Links

People

Elizabeth Browning

www.elizabethbrowningstudio.com

Westchester/NYC Acting Coach. You can call her a hippie when she says she teaches a technique "based in love," but I can tell you firsthand that there's no better way to describe it.

Seth Bisen-Hersh

www.sethbh.com

I got some awesome new material from this up-and-coming musical theatre composer who has been a huge help getting me started in the cabaret scene. His cat, Smee, has perfect pitch and meows in tune with whatever music is playing.

Kerri Hamm

www.klh-photography.com

One of my best friends from high school is now a professional photographer and gave me some great headshots. Don't ya just love when that happens?

Howard Killik

www.killikmusic.com

Composer and insanely brilliant vocal coach whom I worked with throughout high school.

Jeremy Quinn

www.jeremyquinn.com

The director and head honcho of the White Plains Performing Arts Center Conservatory Theatre. Director, actor, administrator, guru...and I cannot thank this guy enough for the opportunities he has given me.

The Actor's Project NYC

www.theactorsprojectnyc.com

A great little theatre troupe that taught me loads about the business of theatre, provided me with awesome audition monologues, and gave me my first Off-Broadway credits

Village Light Opera Group

www.vlog.org

NYC's oldest community theatre and light opera organization run by some warm and wonderful people

Liza Wallis

www.snootydog.com

Photographer in Westchester County who gave me some great headshots and is especially brilliant at capturing animals

Places

Country Academy of Dance

www.lindaducidance.com

Don't Tell Mama

www.donttellmamanyc.com

Sounchek Studios

www.sounchek.com

Westchester Sandbox

www.westchestersandboxtheatre.com

White Plains Performing Arts Center

www.wppac.com

I Support

Project HEAL: Help to Eat, Accept and Live

www.theprojectheal.org

Raising awareness about the reality (and misconceptions) of eating disorders, raising scholarships for ED sufferers who can't afford treatment, and promoting healthy lifestyles and body images in a society obsessed with excess and unhealthy ideals.

Pet Pardons

http://apps.facebook.com/petpardons

A Facebook application dedicated to finding homes and rescue services for shelter animals scheduled to be euthanized, raising awareness about animal rights, overpopulation prevention, and the importance of no-kill shelters