Hi! I’m Courtney, welcome to my first blog post. So glad you’re here! I’d like to say hello and tell you a little about me and where I came from.
What an adventure it’s been starting my own business just months before Covid-19 hit the US. I never would’ve predicted this journey, but that’s another story for another blog post.
In interviews and auditions, people always say, “Tell me a little about yourself.” I usually gave some list of facts of where I was born and where I went to college but it wasn’t anything personal. So, I’m gonna get personal with you.
I was born and raised in Blackfoot, Idaho. Now, to some people, it doesn’t matter where they were born but for this gal, being from Idaho has a sense of pride. Why?
Blackfoot is a small town (10,000ish peeps) and they host the BEST state fair with the coolest concerts, rides, and foooooooood. Blackfoot was also less than three hours away from Yellowstone, Salt Lake City, and Jackson Hole. So, of course we went there many times over. My parents even spent their honeymoon camping (not glamping) in Yellowstone.
My hometown! Famous taters!
My Idaho pride comes from my parents (and grandparents) who lived their lives there but who took me and my family ALL over the country on countless road trips and camping trips and ski trips. Today’s US travel hotspots were “my backyard”.
Me and Dad. Camping in Idaho with family and friends.
Me, the brothers, and my dad. Camping in Idaho.
Yellowstone lake with the cousins.
Many of my fondest memories are of taking road trips to Lake
Powell. (All without video technology). We listened to my dad’s music on the long drives and “sang” along to The Beatles, The Beach Boys, anything from the 60s and 70s. Then we’d continue the music on the houseboat while we’d slide down the water slide, jump off cliffs into the warm water, and then at night we’d turn off the music and lay on top of the houseboat to sleep under the stars.
Four years old at Lake Powell with the fam and cousins.
Me (and little bro) looking fancy with my juice box at Lake Powell.
Water Skiing behind the jet skis.
Idaho is the place where all my travels began. I learned to snow ski in nearby Wyoming. I learned to water ski, jet ski, and knee board on the Snake River. I got to shop for school clothes, see Broadway touring shows, and learn about religious history in Salt Lake City.
I got to know Southeastern Idaho very well. I started piano lessons when I was eight and then in middle school I started flute. Add in community theatre in high school and I was traveling to nearby Pocatello and Idaho Falls on a regular basis for lessons, choir festivals, auditions, dates, dances, and anything that my small town didn’t have.
For college, I decided to go to Southern Utah University in Cedar City, Utah and major in theatre because my mom and grandma took me there my junior year of high school to see the Tony Award Winning Utah Shakespeare Festival and I fell in love. I wanted to go there and do that! So, I did. I got in on a flute scholarship, switched my major to theatre, minored in music, performed at the festival for three years in the summer and fall and graduated. Whew!
Irish Night of The Greenshow at the Utah Shakespeare Festival.
I ended up teaching high school theatre in Cedar City while getting my Masters’ in Education and performing when I could. I’d also zip down to Zion National Park every now and then for some good hikes. And don’t get me started on those Vegas buffets….(Cedar City is close to Utah’s Mighty 5 and two hours from Vegas. Blog also forthcoming.)
From there, I stopped teaching to do acting full time. It took me all over Utah, California, Alaska, New York. I learned a lot about these places and learned even more about myself.
On the drive up to do dinner theatre in Denali National Park.
When I met my (now) husband, I came back to Utah to teach high school again. This time in Salt Lake City while he finished his Stage Management degree. We had a great time getting to know Salt Lake better and being closer to family.
My husband and I travel very well together (thank goodness) and we love taking cruises and exploring faraway lands together. Our favorites so far are Israel, Egypt, and Venice. And that fish spa in Athens was the coolest and weirdest experience.
We even took some students to England and France on an educational trip. We loved London so much that when we got home, we adopted a cat, named her Piccadilly and decided we’d live in London someday.
When we actually got the chance to do just that-we ended up choosing…drum roll please….ARKANSAS! (Very long story).
We moved to Fayetteville, sight unseen, and fell in love with Northwest Arkansas. Got my MFA, bought our first house, and voila! Fisher & Stout was founded.
Can you find my name? Grad walk at the U of A.
Which brings us to the end. Or the beginning?
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention we moved to Chicago for a year. (After Salt Lake, before Arkansas.) Guys, the fooooooood!!! The Theatre, the people, the history, the museums. The food!
So anyways, that’s me in a nutshell-I prefer peanut butter cups- welcome to the blog!
