Carolyn Marie Wright

A delightful blend of classical training and improvisational pep, Carolyn displays a dynamic range of characters: from a meticulous mom opposite Katharine Ross in "Wini + George" to an acrobatic ceiling crawler in BioShock to every spunky Shakespearean heroine known to man. Carolyn grew up in upstate New York and attended Yale where she competed for the Varsity Division I Gymnastics Team. Her first play was "The Frog Prince" with Yale Children's Theater (YCT) during her freshman year. After touring local elementary schools in New Haven doing shows and theatre workshops with YCT, she quickly realized how performing and teaching would shape her life. At Yale, Carolyn went on to earn her B.A. in Theatre Studies with a double concentration in performance and playwriting. She spent several summers on theater staff at Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Ashford, Connecticut, working with children and teens living with chronic and terminal illnesses. After college, she moved to Chicago where she worked with Chicago Kids Company, performed a lot of Shakespeare, and trained at The Second City. Her passion for performing arts and education - and the quest to learn more - inspired Carolyn to attend graduate school. Twice. She earned her M.A. in Educational Theatre at New York University's Steinhardt School and her M.F.A. in Acting at UCLA's School of Theatre, Film & Television - where she received the 2011 George Burns and Gracie Allen Fellowship in Comedy. Alongside her studies, Carolyn worked with MCC Theater and New Victory Theater in NYC, and Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum in Los Angeles. For nearly two decades, her work as an artist, educator, and arts administrator has reached equity theaters, non-profit organizations, academic institutions and independent entertainment entities throughout Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, New Haven and across the nation. She is now based in Phoenix and looks forward to continuing to help students and community members connect deeply to the arts in the Valley of the Sun and beyond.