NASHVILLE THEATER 101: Ashley Diggs, Tom Angland & Memory Strong

Why do people choose careers in the theater? Are the applause and adulation that come over the footlights from the audience enough? Or are there deeper, more resonant reasons that lead otherwise normal, rational people to become part of an altogether dysfunctional family? We put those questions to a group of Nashville actors in hopes of finding out the truth and their answers-widely varied and as unique as the individuals themselves-may surprise you, may enlighten you and, very possibly, may inspire you.

Today, in Nashville Theater 101, we're happy to introduce you to three members of our family: Ashley Michelle Diggs, Tom Angland and Memory Strong. We asked our actors some very basic questions-Why do you do theater? And why do you choose Nashville as your home base?

Ashley Michelle Diggs most recently was onstage in the Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre production of Ain't Misbehavin'. Ashley is married to another notable Nashville actor Joel Diggs.

I choose theatre because it's an outlet. Artists are quite unique people with very abstract minds. Theater allows me to live our loud through someone else, the character. There's something about theatre that is very freeing, something that's too profound for words. There something magical about truthfully living out the life of a character

I've been pursuing acting for eight years here in Nashville, with a few gaps in between because I'm also a touring singer. Nashville has its ups and downs as far as theatre is concerned. Especially for African-American women! But, it's a work in progress and Nashville has been good to me as an artist.

Theater helped me through some very depressing and dark moments in my life. There were times I would go into a script wondering "how am I gonna pull of this character when I'm feeling so blue?" But, I came to find that those were, indeed, my most unforgettable roles. I was vulnerable, therefore, I threw all of my emotion into the script and left it all there on the stage. It's amazing how art can change turmoil to triumph. Theater is a form of therapy for me. Every role I've been blessed with I learn something new about myself. Theatre is a teacher. There's no turning back with theater. Once you're onstage, the lights are on, the audience is seated, it's our job to fully engage and bring the audience along a journey allowing them to forget they're in a theatre. And it's hard work, too, pushing yourself to the limit to convey a message to audiences; and it's not fake, it's not make believe. It's life being expressed.

Tom Angland, who first came to Nashville to pursue songwriting as a career, now teaches and writes plays. Just last week a staged reading of his new play Waiting at the House of Caiaphas, featuring an all-star cast of local actors, was performed for an SRO crowd at the Centennial Black Box Theatre.

I do theatre because it is what I am best at doing, and by quite a wide margin. It feels natural and not at all like work. As to why Nashville, well there is an extraordinary community here. But the truth is, I'm in Nashville to teach. (There are a lot of schools here, and I have connections here, having come as a songwriter and migrated to acting in the '90s.) And teaching is something of a financial capitulation. I'm good enough at it so that I don't feel guilty-that is, I feel I'm serving my students and my employer. But all things being equal, I'd rather be writing, acting in and directing plays for professional theatre. That is where I feel at home.

Memory Strong, perhaps best known as a singer and actress, most recently was represented on the Nashville stage by ACT 1's season-opening production of Lilies, which she co-directed with her partner Matt Smith.

Honestly, I joined the Nashville theater community because I needed to get out of the house. I was a stay-at-home mom and, literally, I stayed home. All. The. Time. I used to sing, and always had wanted to be in a musical, so I auditioned. And I got a role! In the ensemble! It was exciting and scary, but once I started, I was hooked. I realized that I love being on stage. I'm a singer. Being a singer in Nashville is really difficult. Everyone sings. Everyone is so talented that it's difficult to find a stage. A place where you can do what you love to do. The theater community gave me that. A place to play!!

I have always been an outsider. Never the cool kid. Theater gives me a place to belong. Everyone is accepted into this world. The freaks, the nerds, the socially awkward, the jocks, the cheerleaders, the moms and dads, the scholar, and the rebel all have a place on the stage. It's home for all of us.

My first show ever was Tom Sawyer at what is now the Keeton Theater in 2008 or 2009, I think. I had never done theater anywhere else. Since then I have done several musicals and plays. I have taken a few acting classes and am always trying to be better. It's no longer just something to do to get me out of the house. It's my outlet. It's where I've met some of my closest friends. It's where I belong.

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