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Ever since he was a child, Drew has always had a fascination with technology, especially with things that lit up. That fascination led to the constant questioning of his parents about how things in the world around him worked. Some examples include: How do planes stay in the air? How does the car radio play music? How do cell phones work? He always wanted to see the buttons being pressed and see what those buttons did. These intrigues enchanted him and since that young age, he has continued asking the questions, developing a deeply rooted niche of the technological world and how it functions in our everyday life.

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Drew's love of theater also began when he was so young. While in the third grade, he was cast alongside his older sister in their high school's production of Annie Jr and then was uninvolved until he was 13, being cast in the high school's production of Fiddler on the Roof. Jump two years later and that's where the seed for stage lighting was planted in the back of his mind. He was too shy to act (shocker, right? he's already been cast twice before) and wanted to do something behind the scenes so to his fortune, the director of the show (Tarzan) that year showed him what she knew about recording cues on an ETC Element Lightboard (Element 1, not Element 2) and thus was Drew's first lighting design!

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As he progressed through high school, Drew jumped back on stage in the 11th grade to play Laurie in Little Women and Dr. Galen P. Gray in Anatomy of Gray by Jim Leonard Jr. in the 12th grade, while also still designing both shows. He was also involved in two one-act competitions, one as a light board operator and the other as an actor, but after graduating, Drew was unsure what came next in the world of theatre for him. He spent a year at a community college during the COVID-19 pandemic before transferring to this dream school, James Madison University. Upon acceptance, Drew faced the decision between being a theatre major or a music major, worried about what both would offer him in the long run. He ended up choosing the theatre major hoping to act, but to also see what he could learn more about stage lighting. Little did he know at the time that stage lighting would become his dream career, realizing the world of work he could pursue.

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While at JMU, Drew matured greatly. He overcame challenging years that left him feeling mentally drained, feeling hopeless about himself, and unsure if he should even continue with college. To say that college challenged him would be an understatement, but Drew held on. He worked hard to get to where he was and he was unwilling to let his dreams slither away from him. After enduring the hardships, Drew found his stride just in time for his final year at JMU. Since he started at JMU, he has worked on a large number of shows as an electrician with notable mentions being Chicago as head electrician and his first professional work at the Virginia Theatre Festival for their 50th Anniversary season in the summer of 2024 (Shows include, 50 Years and Counting: A Musical Revue, Little Shop of Horrors, and The 39 Steps). As of writing, he has been involved in 3 shows as Assistant/Associate Designer (The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical (Not showcased in portfolio), Anon(ymous), and The SpongeBob Musical) and 1 show as Lead Designer (Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play) with work lined up to design The Antipodes in the Spring of 2025.

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