Tom Schuster

Tom Schuster, born on April 12, 1980, is a German actor, performer in musicals, dancer and martial artist from Munich. Tom began Wing Chun training at the age of 15 and continued with Escrima, Krav Maga, Ninjutsu and Aikido. In 1999, he took a break in his martial arts training and attended the Iwanson International School of Contemporary Dance in Munich. Tom subsequently studied acting, singing and speaking under Karsten Welte, Robert Hoyem and Wolfgang Schatz. After his studies in the aforementioned arts, he performed in different roles in theatre and film. Tom began to perform in musicals in 2003 with the lead roles "Little Shop Of Horrors", "Linie 1", "West Side Story", "My Fair Lady" and "The Rocky Horror Show". He also was a part of the art installation "Strings of Light" by Noritoshi Hirakawa at the BMW Pavilion. It was there he first came into contact with Butoh. He later had his own Butoh performance at Nektar Munich. In 2004, Tom went back to Martial Arts and trained in various schools with a focus on Wing Chun and Escrima. 2005 saw Tom return to the stage with Mike Barans "Lost Highway Show", an adaptation of David Lynch's cult classic "Lost Highway". Tom, director Mike Baran and others founded "Mamas' Secrets" studio, a division of "Don't tell Mama e.V." which is an art and culture project in Munich. Mamas' Secrets produced the short film "A Munich Nightmare". Further films include "Reinkarnation", "Final Curtain" and "Nice Suicide". 2015 saw Tom open his own Martial Arts' school in which he teaches Wing Chun and Escrima. In the same year, he played the main role in the independent film "Holy Spirit" in which he also choreographed the fight scenes. The Holy Spirit's world premiere was in 2018 in Los Angeles. The Top Indie Film Awards nominated Tom Schuster and Mike Baran for the "Best Original Idea" category. Holy Spirit was awarded a further 61 international prizes with Tom winning the Diamond Award as best Leading role and best actor at the Five Continents international Festival. Theatre / Musical: Little Shop of Horrors, West Side Story, Linie 1, The Rocky Horror Show, Lost Highway Show Film: Nice Suicide, Final Curtain, A Munich Nightmare, Holy Spirit