Danny, the young skateboarding hooligan, did not expect that acting would transform his impulse for deception into a gift. The boy who nearly dropped out of high school to start a punk band instead pl ...Show More
Danny, the young skateboarding hooligan, did not expect that acting would transform his impulse for deception into a gift. The boy who nearly dropped out of high school to start a punk band instead plugged into the art of theater. He discovered a troupe performing in a derelict coffee shop in the depressed city of St. Louis and landed his breakout role as Jerry in The Zoo Story. Edward Albee, the famed Pulitzer and Tony playwright, even dropped in to watch the production. For Danny, this was more than a teenager's dream come true, it was life changing. Danny left Saint Louis for Columbia College, Chicago where he received a Presidential scholarship. He cut his teeth with supporting roles in Sex Drugs and Rock and Roll with The Journeymen Theater, Sirens of Titan with Big Game Theater (directed by David Cromer) and performed in improv shows at Second City. His career flourished when he became a company member of The Trap Door Theatre and met Michael Pieper, an acting teacher from Second City. Their sellout shows featured intricate role-playing like the young junkie Boogie in the award-winning production of Sugar Down Billie Hoak or the adaptation of Marlon Brando's character Val in Orpheus Descending. Nobody Dies when Its Sunny, an award-winning documentary based on Danny's experience working for the city mortuary in Portland, OR continues to play at film festivals from Los Angeles to Amsterdam. Hide
