Jay Tilley

Actor

Jay Tilley is a non-union actor who has appeared in nearly 50 stage productions throughout the greater Washington, DC metropolitan area since making his theatrical debut in July 1999.

A two-time WATCH award nominee, Jay has performed with numerous community, dinner and professional theatres in the Potomac Region in productions ranging from musicals and light operas to contemporary comedies and dramas to classical.

He has played a variety of characters including a warlock, ghosts, gamblers, faithful sidekicks, a beast, men of the cloth, kings, cops, an assassin, members of the Continental Congress, a creepy flasher, a samurai master, a vainglorious Roman, a mentally handicapped man, Elvis, Marcus Brutus, an obnoxious radio personality, an evil female cook, a Jewish moneylender, the legendary Orson Welles and even God.

In addition to his stage experience, Jay has dabbled in some local film, television and photo shoot work. He has also studied acting locally with Helen Hayes award winner Rick Foucheux as well as classical voice locally with Peggy Molinaro. Jay also studied classical voice at the University of South Carolina with Dr. Richard Conant while a member of Dr. Conant’s nationally recognized show choir, Carolina Alive!

Jay began his “career” in his hometown of Bristol, VA as a shy but eager child singing solos in grade school productions and church as well as junior high and high school chorus, eventually earning spots in the all-region, all-state and honors choirs.

As a member of Carolina Alive!, Jay had the privilege of performing at a variety of state events, including the South Carolina State Fair and the 1994 South Carolina Republican Convention, as well as appearing onstage with the Beach Boys on the Disney cruise ship, The Big Red Boat, in The Bahamas in 1995.

After receiving his B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communications, Jay headed west to Sedona, AZ to pursue a sports writing career. Unhappy, poor, restless and unsatisfied with his career choice, Jay sought solace in an acting workshop at the Sedona Arts Center with San Diego acting instructor Florene Villane and Roy Werner – who has since made appearances in TV shows, such as Profiler, Alias, CSI: Miami, Veronica Mars and Commander in Chief – and it was official; the acting bug had bitten him.

Just months after moving to the DC area, Jay went to his first audition and was cast in the ensemble of a community theatre production of Oklahoma! with C.A.S.T. in McLean. Since then, he has had the pleasure and privilege of working with some of the finest actors and directors from the Potomac Region and beyond. In 2004, for example, Jay worked with well-known New York actor, writer and director John Driver on his original samurai musical, Ride The Winds, as the lead character of Tokusan at the Laurel Mill Playhouse in 2004.

Another highlight in Jay’s growing career came during a run of 1776 at the now defunct West End Dinner Theatre in Alexandria, VA. While playing Edward Rutledge of South Carolina, Jay got to share the stage during two performances with special guest star Fred Grandy, former Congressman and star of TV’s The Love Boat.

Yet another memorable moment came on December 10, 2005. While playing The Ghost of Christmas Present and one of the charitable gentlemen in A Christmas Carol with Vpstart Crow Productions in Manassas, VA, Jay and the entire cast and crew got the chance to perform for a direct descendant of Charles Dickens himself. Gerald Charles Dickens, the great-great-grandson of Charles Dickens and a well-known British actor, director and producer, was in attendance and absolutely loved the show. “It’s a great story,” he said after the performance. “I wouldn’t have missed this for the world. You all did the old boy (Charles Dickens) proud.”

By day, Jay is a recruiting coordinator for The Dominion Group, a healthcare research firm in Reston, VA, but he continues to pursue his passion with the hopes that one day it will become his full-time job.

Jay has been active offstage in the theatre community as well. He previously served Vpstart Crow, a professional theatre company in residence at The Cramer Center in Manassas, VA, as a member of the Board of Directors, an Artistic Associate and as Director of Communications between November 2004 and December 2006. He also served as Director of Communications for Theatre For The Community, another professional troupe at The Cramer Center, from October 2004 to November 2005. Jay still volunteers his time to various theatre companies as a public relations consultant.

In addition, Jay is a member of The Actors’ Center and founder and moderator of The Green Room, a Yahoo! group designed for Washington, DC and Baltimore metro area actors to keep each other informed of upcoming performances, auditions, rehearsals, staged readings, workshops, classes and other related events.