Ash Davis and Not Taking No for an Answer
By Lydia Weyrich, senior account executive at Irvin Public Relations
Ash Davis is a metaperformer, a writer and the community relations coordinator at the Columbus performing arts company Shadowbox Live. Ash has worked in the performing arts space for over 20 years—beginning at just four years old—and has spent the last six years of her career at Shadowbox Live. Ash is currently performing in Rock This Way and will soon appear in Millennium: A 2000s Musical.
Lydia: How did you get started in your art form? What do you remember about first being intrigued by it?
Ash: When I was about four years old, my mom sang in our church’s choir, and every Christmas, they would go to retirement homes and perform for the residents. The pastor reluctantly let me tag along only if I promised to sit quietly. Well, I did sit quietly until he called for an intermission, and that microphone was left unguarded. What was I supposed to do?! Not grab it and start singing? My time was now. So, I jumped up on my tippy toes, grabbed the mic and belted out my favorite Christmas song ever: “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Before the pastor could yell at me, the accompanist jumped in and started playing for me. They ended up adding me to their whole set, and I became their guest star. The rest is history; I’ve been singing ever since. The love for theater and writing came later, but my passion will always be rooted in music.
Lydia: What led you to Shadowbox Live? What has been your proudest moment?
Ash: I met Shadowbox Live at the Southeastern Theatre Conference when I auditioned for them in 2018 and absolutely fell in love with the work they produced. I knew I wanted to work there… but they didn’t hire me… and I wasn’t having it. I knew where I wanted to be, so I spent the entire next year following their process and working on my audition for next year. Over 200 theaters were present at this conference, but my audition was tailored to get Shadowbox’s attention only. I got a callback and they hired me almost immediately. While I went to this conference specifically to find Shadowbox, it turns out they were there specifically to find me, too. I was obviously supposed to be here.
Fast forward a little over six years, and I’m living my proudest moment right now. Starring as the lead in Millennium, a show that I wrote with the love of my life, Zach Tarantelli. What an incredible and rare thing to experience!
Lydia: What is something you wish you knew as a performer just starting out?
Ash: If you find joy in working hard at what you love, then success has no choice but to follow. However, if you only find joy in the success of what you love, then those are going to be really short-lived highs and a long road to the next dose.
Lydia: What is your process for creating/working/rehearsing/performing?
Ash: I call them my brain adventures. Headphones go on, lights go out and I’m in my fantasy rehearsal world. Running the same song or scenes in my head with a different “motivator” every time I run it until I find what makes sense. For the show Evolutionaries, I ran my song (either out loud or in my head) a total of 223 times. Then I take what I discover on my own to the stage and see what works and marry my ideas with what the producer is looking for.
A big part of Millennium was created by me just listening to the playlist over and over again and seeing what the movie in my head turns it into.
Lydia: What question do you get asked most often about your art, and how do you answer?
Ash: “How do you still have a voice after rock screaming so much?!?!”
Answer: It’s all technique. Screaming is my favorite illusion because it’s really mostly just air.
Lydia: What is your self-care routine?
Ash: I do yoga and meditate every single day. As a creative, I have so many ideas floating around at once that I need those moments to be quiet so I can sort through all of them and find which ones are worth exploring.
Lydia: What is your ideal day spent in Columbus?
Ash: A warm day with my partner Zach, walking around or kayaking around the Scioto Mile, shopping in the Short North, dinner on a rooftop somewhere, then ending with jazz and dessert at the Ginger Rabbit.
You can see Ash perform in Rock This Way now through June 1, and her newest creation, Millennium: A 2000s Musical, written with Zach Tarantelli, will take the stage June 5 through Aug. 29. Both shows will be at Shadowbox Live in the Brewery District (503 S. Front St.).
This article is part of a bi-weekly column brought to you by the Greater Columbus Arts Council as part of the Art Makes Columbus campaign. Explore a calendar of events, public art database and artist stories at columbusmakesart.com. To learn more about GCAC grants visit gcac.org.