Tom Ellensen
In 2013, my dad suggested I should try acting. He found a theater group for me, when he started a conversation with a host at a restaurant. The host named Diaka told him about Creative Arts Team and now I was about to enter my first acting class. So many thoughts went through my mind: I didn’t know if I could do it. How can I act if I am in a wheelchair and can't talk? I had a knot in my stomach. I was so nervous and excited. In the end, I loved it so much. I was in two shows by CAT. They were In Truth and See-Saw. I always loved Broadway but I never thought I would be an actor because of my disability. My journey into acting has helped me to be a braver person. Acting helps me to escape from reality. My life is hard because of my disability and acting allows me to share my voice in many different ways - as many different characters. Through these characters I get to become so many different people. I now understand that acting is freedom.
I met my three best friends in September 2013. They all have unique characteristics. Here's Desi, She's the fashionable one of the group. she is awesome. She’s only 19, and lives by herself and has a job. Here's Carsean, He's the cool one of the group. He has a job too. Here's Jt, He's peacekeeper of the group. I mean he holds the group together. He changed his name to Kai. But I always call him Jt. He's gay and awesome and cool. JT and I will live together in four years. The four of us have been like siblings - with me, of course, being the brother with the good looks! Also I met other friends. The people who are in CAT are my kind of people, because they understand me and are extremely nice. In February 2014 we put on a show called In Truth. Jefferson Mays & his wife came to In Truth. They were so impressed so he invited CAT to see Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. We enjoyed it so much. Here's CAT and Jefferson after the show. In November 2014, a group called Broadway Artists Connection held a benefit for CAT. CAT had to choose a scene from In Truth so they chose my scene. I performed at the benefit with my friends who were in my scene. Also some Broadway actors performed too. Here's us and them after the benefit. I met Colin Cunliffe, Tamlyn Brooke Orlando, and Reg E. Gaines. They all became my friends. It was awesome. I felt special because I performed in the same benefit as them. Jordan Roth and Seth Rudetsky went to See-Saw in February 2015. They enjoyed it so much. Jordan said that it was such a remarkable show, so impactful and important. Also he said that it was the best show that he seen.