Who is Eli Anyways?

First things first, I am a certified yapper. So here's a bit of an extended version of my "About me", which I didn't want to put on the front page, but can put here, because this is my space and area and I can do what I want here!

My name is Eli Leon Joie Harvey, and I am a black, queer teaching artist living in Denver, CO. My two biggest passions are the arts and education, and, as the years continue on and I learn more about both areas, the more I believe that the arts, especially theater, can be used as a tool within education as a way to learn more about other people and ourselves. 

I have graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Musical Theater from the University of Colorado Boulder. While in school, I had the opportunity to be cast in eleven shows, and played a variety of different roles. Out of all of them, the ones that stood out to me the most were the roles of Rosalind (As You Like It), Mack the Knife (Three Penny Opera), and Greta (Antigone, Presented by the Girls of St. Catherine’s). These three roles during my time at school each shaped a part of my performance ability and gave me a true challenge to overcome.

For Rosalind, the challenge was that I have had very limited interactions with Shakespere’s text, and so I was not only learning who the character was, but also how to speak words and within phrases that were unfamiliar to me at the time. For Mack the Knife, it was the challenge of learning dialogue, which I had previously struggled with retaining. It was a challenge indeed, but, from it, I am a much better performer. There is a major part of me that wishes that I could perform as him once again, because I know that I would be able to handle the demands of that role much better now than what I could then. Finally, for Greta, my challenge was how to give believable performances when the text requires a certain amount of intensity. My performance within that play remains the one I am most proud of during my time within school. Out of all of them, there is nothing I would change within my process nor in my approach to the characters and text. I remembered how supportive of an environment it was, and, since then, it has shaped my approach in how I show up not only for the role I was cast in, but for the company at large. 

Since graduating, I have been able to perform with a number of different people, including being invited to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to perform as the character Ana within a new work, Banned: The Musical, and then returning home to play Cassie within the world premiere of The Android’s New Soul, which performed at The Bug Theater. Both experiences were so much fun, and reminded me just how much hard work gets put into creating something new. And not only hard work, but collaboration. 

Outside of theater, my passion for art drives me. I love to draw, paint, make music and write. When I am not doing that, then I am working as an educator. Currently, one of my goals and dreams is to become a theater educator. As of right now, I feel positive that I am on track to achieve this goal of mine. My other goal and dream? The ability to have theater be my full time job. With all my hardwork so far, and with the work I know I will be doing, I am certain that this other dream of mine is well within my reach also.