BIOGRAPHY

Tom Schuch (pronounced shook) has called himself many things: student, gardener, waiter, restaurant manager, insurance salesman, husband, son, friend, brother, treatment foster parent, landscaper, painter, bartender, oral presentation coach, and vermicomposter. The list goes on and on. These labels provide the curious with a way of describing people they meet. When asked who he really is, without hesitation comes the reply, ACTOR. Since the age of 12 this is how Tom Schuch has seen himself. Oh sure, life has a way of taking us on detours, journeys and unplanned explorations. Schuch considers those detours as neccesary and invaluable. Everything he has done, every person he has met, and every situation he has lived through has in some way made him the actor he is today. Never is there a day he doesn't learn and improve, however minutely.

Schuch got his feet wet in a variety of theatrical productions while in school including works by Shakespeare, Anouilh, Giradoux, Medoff, Mamet, Williams, Wolfe, and musicals including The Boyfriend and The Music Man. After graduating with a degree in Drama from the University of Washington, Schuch began his version of life's pursuit and over the years lived in Seattle, Denver, Los Angeles, and Albuquerque acting-working-acting-working-acting-working.

During this time he acted in over 50 theatrical productions, a variety of short and feature films, industrial films, television and voice-over commercials. He made guest appearances on the Young & the Restless, The Nanny, and The Red Shoe Diaries. He was a founding member of a professional comedy improv troupe, Surely You Jest, and performance group, Shakespeare-on-the-Halfshell. All these experiences added up to a considerable resume. And then came THE moment...

There comes a time in every actor's career where they have to make a decision: Do I quit? Do I continue? If I continue, what does that mean? (By the way, Schuch says quitting was never a consideration.) What it meant was never accepting roles or producing work that wasn't challenging or important or cathartic. What it meant was never accepting work without remuneration. What it did was make actor synonymous with work. What it did was introduce Schuch to Einstein: A Stage Portrait. He's never looked back.

Tom Schuch is the President of SPOLI Productions, President of the New Mexico Branch of Screen Actors Guild, a member of Actors Equity Association and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

Why Einstein?

When I decided to produce and perform, Einstein: A Stage Portrait, I knew what most people knew about this famous man. I knew he was brilliant physicist who turned the scientific world on its ear with his famous Theory of Relativity. There isn't a day that passes that you don't hear a reference to Einstein in some form or another. How many times have you heard, "Well , he's no Einstein!" or that one of his theories like the existence of Black Holes which Einstein predicted years ago and was recently proven to be true? Most of us are at least vaguely familiar with Einstein and his reputation -- a reputation he shied away from throughout his life.

What I didn't know was the human side of Einstein. The more I researched the more fascinated I became. The three most important things in Einstein's life were his work, his violin, and his sailboat. His violin? His sailboat? He also had a tremendous sense of humor. He loved to tell jokes and perform party tricks. He was a pacifist and a Zionist. He abhorred all forms of authority, but loved ice cream and walks in the mountains. He didn't wear socks. and, of course, was unconcerned about his appearance. Did you know Einstein didn't talk until he was three years old and was considered to be a slow learner in school? By the time he was in high school he was so disruptive in class he was asked to leave. After college his reputation, which garnered him no positive recommendations from his professors, kept him from securing a job. So, he was "out of school and out of work."

All of these fascinating bits of information added up to a great acting challenge. The award-winning play, Einstein: A Stage Portrait, by Willard Simms brings this complicated man's life to the stage. It is a fascinating study of the human side of a brilliant, dedicated, and sometimes controversial man.