In ~200 words…

JULIET MAZER-SCHMIDT JR. (she/they) is a Detroit-born artist and licensed attorney who found the stage before her 2nd birthday. A DC-based litigation career led back to theater via long-form improvisation, pivoting to Chicago-based musical improv, yoga instruction, dance, and nonprofit theater fundraising.

In NYC, her work began in Broadway-based general and company management, casting, stage management, and production for organizations including The PUBLIC Theater (HELL’S KITCHEN), A.R.T. (Claudia Rankine’s THE WHITE CARD), and 321 Theatrical Management (WICKED [Broadway, Munchkinland Tour]; WAR PAINT [Broadway]; SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS [Broadway]; FUN HOME [Nat’l Tour]). As an agent, she assisted living legend André De Shields with the debut of OLD DAWG; NEW TRICKS, created and performed to open Lincoln Center’s American Songbook 2020 Season at the Appel Room. As an artist, she completed The Theatre Lab (DC)’s Life Stories Institute in 2018 and Broadway Advocacy Coalition’s 2020 Theater of Change (in partnership with Columbia Law School). 

A lifelong professional multi-hyphenate, she works presently as a part-time Associate with Mathey + Stern, Special Advocate with CASA-NYC, and freelance illustrator (Key of JMS), alongside development of new musical SARAH AND THE SEED as well as HORSE MIGHT SING, a history (+ synesthesia)-inspired musical play series tracking women across the American railway, and アサヒ (ASAHI), a graphic novel series blending the worlds of ballet and sumo.

…In >200 words:

Geography:

Born: Detroit, 1983

Raised: borderline of Detroit and neighboring suburb, Grosse Pointe – GP side. 
(To put this borderline in context, please see HERE.)

High School: Grosse Pointe South (cover photo HERE)

College: Villanova University

Study Abroad: Madrid (2003); Lisbon (2004)

Then: back to GP/Detroit (2005); DC (2006-2013); Chicago (2013-2017)

Now: NYC (7/4/2017-Present)

Influences:
Two women who forever frame my perspective:

During each of my mother’s two pregnancies, A Chorus Line came through the Midwest: she cannot recall how many times she saw it, but assures it was “a lot.”

Her mother was a piano prodigy, born with a congenital defect in her neck: she played with fancy orchestras from an early age and, on the other side of an experimental corrective spinal surgery, grew up to become a literal beauty queen and (35-year) music director for Grosse Pointe Children’s Theater.

Childhood
Born late and large, I came into the world curious and full of energy: by the time I started kindergarten I was swimming, performing in musicals, studying ballet, and writing “novels”; before the end of elementary school I was a competitive swimmer and church choir soloist in a dance company with paid theater work, a drawer of filled diaries, and my first delivered eulogy under my belt. I followed my big brother, Kenny, everywhere – including hundreds of horror movies and grunge/hardcore/punk shows in and around Detroit. Because of Kenny I learned to skateboard and snowboard as well as how to build skateboard ramps, backflip on a trampoline, and construct a compelling ghost story. He was my first hero.

High School (Grosse Pointe Farms, MI)
In high school, I shifted from theater and dance to varsity sports: swimming (everything but the breaststroke); gymnastics (beam); track (pole vault). I developed a love of travel and, with the help of scholarships, took Adventures Cross Country backpacking trips across Alaska and the Southwestern United States. I also served as a class Senator, created and completed a year-long independent study in creative writing, and spoke at graduation. My suits built for swimming, I worked as a lifeguard, swim instructor, and swim coach (for ages 5-17); torn rotator cuffs ended my own competitive swimming “career” at age 17.

College (Villanova, PA / Fall 2001 – Spring 2005)
I started college experimenting with crew (stroke seat) before settling into karate (Okinawan RyuTe). I studied Spanish, English, and Philosophy, studying abroad in Madrid (2003) and Lisbon (2004, during the Euro – an experience that solidified a love of the Portuguese National Soccer Team so deep I follow it still). Following my time abroad, I wrote a senior thesis in creative nonfiction that led to my first experiences as a lecturer (National Conference of Undergraduate Research); Phi Beta Kappa taught me my first “secret handshake,” and Joan Didion’s influence led me to start calling my diaries “notebooks.” Offered acceptance into several MFA writing programs, I planned to move to New York after graduation to build a career as a writer…

…Post-College Curveball (Detroit, MI)
When MFA scholarships didn’t come through as anticipated, I moved home to regroup: I coached swimming one more summer, then spent the fall clerking in the Forfeiture and Homicide Sections of the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office in Detroit – driving most afternoons, post-work, the 20 miles out to Troy (changing in my car) to work evenings in a Maggiano’s Little Italy.

JMS Goes to Washington
In 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Immigration Litigation hired me as part of a pilot program of “Paralegal Specialists”: I moved to DC and helped to oversee nearly 2,000 immigration appeals outsourced across more than ninety U.S. Attorneys’ Offices across the country. I also drafted more than 17 appellate briefs and 135 motions before starting law school at The Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law. During this time, I also volunteered at The White House (Obama Administration), assisting with holiday events including Christmas, Easter, and the Fourth of July.

I attended law school against the background of a recession, amidst highly contentious federal budget negotiations. During this time, I clerked in the Front Office and Homicide Section of the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office; “switched sides” to complete a fellowship with the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Northern District of Virginia (Alexandria) and took additional Guardian Ad Litem legal training to represent children. I then practiced white collar defense with one of the world’s largest law firms, Hogan Lovells US LLP (Hogan & Hartson during my time as a Summer Associate): while with Hogan, I had the opportunity to spend four months as a full-time Pro Bono Associate, helping to oversee the firm’s pro bono practice. During this time I crossed paths with The Posse Foundation, a college access nonprofit I’ve supported subsequently on multiple fronts in DC, Chicago, and NYC.

Throughout my career in criminal law, I worked alongside good people serving a deeply flawed justice system. After nearly eight years in law, I left the firm in the summer of 2013 to transition my career into arts management…

Finding My Way Back to the Stage
To better prepare for public defender* work, I took an improv class with Washington Improv Theater in the fall of 2010 – CUT TO two years later: I’m performing on a WIT Harold Team, stage managing WIT Fringe Festival shows, co-commissioning WIT’s 3-on-3 March Madness-style tournament (FIST), teaching classes… and then I found my way to musical improv. Improvised musical theater and songwriting became a surprisingly strong source of awesome in my life and, seeking more of it, I stumbled upon The Second City’s Music Conservatory in Chicago – a 14-month program designed around improvised musicals leading to the development of songwriting skills and a musical sketch revue. This program became a dream of mine – in its place, for the short-term, I chased down another dream: I performed in the Ensemble of a production of Les Misérables at The Theatre Lab – my first musical in nearly fifteen years.

Chicago
In the summer of 2013 I moved to Chicago, where I completed not only The Second City’s Music Conservatory but also iO Theater’s Improv Program and five seasons of MINt (Music Improv Night) at MCL Chicago, a theater dedicated primarily to the development of musical comedy and new musical productions. I picked-up freelance work in corporate events, theater production, casting, miscellaneous acting gigs* – including gigs acting for lawyers (through the National Institute for Trial Advocacy), eventually working my way toward a position in development with TimeLine Theatre Company. I spent an incredibly fulfilling two and-a-half seasons with TimeLine developing skills in fundraising, marketing, audience services and board development as well as gaining familiarity with royalties, 501(c)(3) finance, and theater contracts. *(One February Wednesday in 2016, I convinced Hillary Clinton I was chess Grandmaster Irina Krush on The Steve Harvey Show!)

N-Y-C
I moved to NYC July 4, 2017 to continue building my career in the arts.

Upon my arrival in New York, I completed a General Management internship with female-owned Broadway-based 321 Theatrical Management (working on Wicked (Broadway and National Tour); War Paint (Broadway, through Closing); SpongeBob SquarePants (Broadway, through Opening); and Fun Home (National Tour, through Closing).

With 321 as my springboard, I subsequently served as Production Assistant for A.R.T.’s world premiere of Claudia Rankine’s The White Card, directed by Diane Paulus; assisted with the launch of an Off-Broadway general management startup; returned to litigation as a contractor attorney; assisted both stage manager and bookwriter during a workshop at The PUBLIC Theater (Hell’s Kitchen); completed semi-finalist interviews for The Posse Foundation’s New York Office; attended The Theatre Lab’s Life Stories Institute in DC, picked-up additional writing reps freelance theater writing for multiple publications; and acquired rights to an Eisner-nominated web comic (Sarah and the Seed by Ryan Andrews) that my Partner and I adapted into a musical, now working its way toward full production. I also started studying Japanese at Japan Society to dig deeper into my growing sumo love.

In 2019, I happily merged my skill sets into an Associate Agent role for a boutique artists’ agency, advocating on behalf of theater, TV and film actors – only to have health issues* cause an unplanned year-end departure from the agency.

2020 began with Broadway Advocacy Coalition’s Theater of Change  (in partnership with Columbia Law’s Center for Institutional and Social Change) while assisting living legend André De Shields with the debut of Old Dawg; New Tricks, created and performed to open Lincoln Center’s American Songbook 2020 Season at The Appel Room.

This website remains my “digital sandbox” (where I play infrequently of late, I’m afraid): much of my calendar’s current “stuff” is a joy (I aim simply to streamline my screen-time!). 

*A Note on Health & Wellness
While serving as a public defender, at age 27, I received a diagnosis of a rare form of spinal arthritis that lurks in my family tree; suffice it to say, the news hit hard. Desperate for drug-free pain control, I tried a “Yoga for Misfits” class at a DC nonprofit studio – in July 2011: I’ve practiced yoga regularly since – and remain painkiller-free! Two years later, I completed a yoga instructor certification program with Spanish yoga superhero Carmen Aguilar and started a meditation practice. I began teaching yoga shortly after turning 30 (under Carmen at The Lab), taking my experiences with using yoga as medicine to assist others reduce their pain. I also gained confidence, gradually, in my own aging and injured body: at age 32, I took a leap of faith and auditioned for a Chicago-based dance company – roughly 17 years following my retirement from my former Detroit-area dance company. I spent two seasons with Matter Dance Company before moving to NYC, where I continue to develop my movement practice (lately alongside a theremin!) – and will continue doing so, to whatever extent my body allows each day. (By reader request, more on this may be found in My Spinal Column, Prologue and first five chapters now posted.)

At Bottom:
I am “here” to be helpful: from lyrics, to illustrations, to contracts, I continue to welcome new collaborations – and welcome your questions. 

xo
JMS