A History of Jeffrey Coyle

A History of Jeffrey Coyle

I was born in Buffalo, New York, where I have lived my entire life. I am an only child, which probably means I'm spoiled, even though I don't think so, but I'm biased. I was a very imaginative child. I could play for hours by myself, creating worlds within worlds in which I controlled everything. I had many toys too--Star Trek figures, Ninja Turtles, Star Wars-- but by far, my favorite were Legos. Over the course of my life, I must have collected millions of Legos, a collection I still possess, unable to part with.

Elementary School

I attended Mt. St Joseph's Academy for Elementary school, where in fifth grade, thanks to Mr. Star (the one to blame I suppose), I began acting and singing. At the very same time, my English teacher, Mrs. Tarzia, was helping me discover the writer that I was to become. Looking back, it was a rather important year in my life.

High School

For high school, I attended St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute, an all-boys school in the Buffalo suburb of Kenmore. It was at St. Joe's where my life, and the path I wanted to follow, began to take shape. I began singing in the school choir, run by Mr. Deiotte. He taught me how to sing, how to use my voice, how to control and shape it. Here too I began working with Lynne Kurdziel-Formato. She directed and choreographed the school musicals, as well as taught acting classes. It was under her direction that I grew to love performing and realized I wanted to choose to pursue it as a career.

College

I attended the University at Buffalo, where I graduated with a B.F.A. in Music Theatre. While there, I learned as much about theatre as I could, and took classes I never imagined I would, like ballet and mime. There is no Billy Elliot story here--I did not take to ballet, but I did enjoy it. And actually I was quite good at mime. I also took many, many acting classes, with many great professors. There was one professor, though, who certainly changed me the most. Maria Horne taught my sophomore acting classes and it was she who really helped me find my focus and drive. In my senior year when the Department of Theatre and Dance named me the Outstanding Senior for my graduating class, it was Maria I chose to accompany me as my mentor.

After Graduation

While in college, I had already made my professional Buffalo theatre debut, in a production of The 1940's Radio Hour at the Irish Classical Theatre.
But after graduation I really began to work. The Buffalo theatre season is five shows, September to May, and I was fully booked my first two full seasons after graduation. Add on top of that the summer theatre I was involved in and I was a part of twelve productions in two years. Needless to say I have slowed down since, but I still have the pleasure of acting fairly steadily in town. It's tough to keep the enthusiasm up sometimes, so currently I'm working on choosing projects that really challenge me. So that brings things up to date. What remains now is unwritten. Wish me luck!