Tara
Althaus
Actor Singer Dancer
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I know what you’re thinking. You’re trying to place how you know me. Don’t worry, I can help. You’re probably remembering me from my very promising breakout role as the Farmer’s Daughter in The Music Man Jr. when I was ten. No? Huh, well then you MUST have heard about my amazing trademark ability to turn my feet backward… That’s not it either? Oh, I know! You saw me win the Britney Spears singing contest at my city fair when I was eleven. Yup, that’s definitely it!
I love performing for the same reason I love to read. George R. R. Martin explained it best when he wrote, “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The person who never reads lives only one.” As an actor, I get to live through so many different characters and experience things I never would normally. Films, Theatre, TV, they have a way of bringing people together. They allow us, for just a moment, to be distracted from our everyday lives. They allow us to laugh together, cry together, and sometimes even learn together. The arts are a powerful force that help make the world a better place and I’m proud to be a small part of that.
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I am an MFA Acting graduate from Academy of Art University, BA Musical Theatre Performance graduate from Siena Heights University, as well as a graduate of the apprenticeship program at The Purple Rose Theatre Company. I have worked as a professional Director and Choreographer throughout the Midwest and have taught dance for over 15 years to children of all ages. Some of my past credits include Directing Lost in Yonkers (Toledo Repertoire Theatre), Directing Frozen Jr. (Bedford Community Players); Assistant Directing the world premiere of Smart Love (Purple Rose Theatre Company), Choreographing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Perrysburg High School), Choreographing Once Upon A Mattress (Oregon Community Theatre), and House Managing Jeff Daniels: Onstage and Unplugged (Purple Rose Theatre Company).
When I’m not acting, I spend my time working with my non-profit organization ‘Once Upon A Time – Youth Literacy and Disabilities.’ This is a program I started when I was 18 to help children who struggle with reading disabilities and to help all children get excited about reading. So far I have been able to personally visit over 200 classrooms and donate over 3,000 books to schools and libraries across Michigan. There is a kind of magic that lies in every storybook and there’s no better feeling than helping a child discover that magic for the first time.
