Episode 165 · December 3, 2024
Sydney May: Loving her Creative Life in Tulsa
with Sydney May, Singer & community theater performer
26 min
Sydney May: Loving her Creative Life in Tulsa
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In this episode
In this episode I sit down with Sydney May, a Tulsa girl through and through, who has built a creative life around her love of singing and theater. Sydney was born and raised in Tulsa, studied communications with a music minor in Oklahoma City, and came back home during COVID. When she felt something was missing, she found her way into community theater — and that creative outlet changed everything.
We talk about how she got hooked on musical theater as a kid (Bye Bye Birdie and the Wicked soundtrack!), why she keeps acting and singing as a beloved hobby alongside her full-time job, and how she works through real stage fright and social anxiety by stepping into a character's shoes. Sydney is raw and honest about a season when she nearly lost her voice after major surgery, and the patient work it took to rebuild a healthier, truer voice — one that's opened doors she never had before.
I love that Sydney's biggest piece of advice is simply: go for it. You don't need a degree or a perfect voice — if you love it, that will show. Whether you're dreaming of being on stage or quietly helping backstage, there's a place for you. Keep going. This is the kind of conversation that reminds you to trust your passion and use your God-given gifts and talents.
Key takeaways
- Trust your passion and go for it — you don't need a degree or formal training to start in community theater; if you love it, that love will show.
- Backstage is a real on-ramp. Costumes, props, sets, lights, and sound all need volunteers, and many require very few skills ('if you can sew a button, you can help with costumes').
- Performing can actually help with anxiety — stepping into a confident character lets you feel what that confidence is like, and the stage fright tends to fade the moment you're in the scene.
- Practical pre-show calm: arrive early for quiet alone time in the dressing room, use deep breathing and counting, and remember almost everyone feels nervous before going on.
- Take care of your instrument. Sydney's tonsil surgery revealed years of singing 'incorrectly,' and working with a voice teacher helped her find a healthier, more sustainable, truer voice.
- Even working professionals keep training — like athletes in the off-season, singers keep taking lessons because the craft (and the research behind it) is always evolving.
- Community theater is for everyone — attorneys, doctors, full-time parents, people with day jobs — all making time for something they love.
- Asking for help is growth. Sydney credits therapy with changing the game as she navigates anxiety, depression, and ADHD.
Chapters
- 00:00Trust your passion and go for it
- 00:40Welcome + a thank you to sponsor Tanya Bledsoe, State Farm
- 02:00Meet Sydney May: growing up in Tulsa
- 04:00Falling in love with musical theater
- 07:30Choosing communications over moving to New York
- 10:00Coming home to Tulsa and finding community theater
- 13:00Working through stage fright and social anxiety
- 16:30Nearly losing her voice — surgery and rebuilding
- 21:00Why singers keep taking lessons
- 23:30Advice for aspiring performers: just go for it
- 26:00A Christmas Carol this December
- 28:00Growing in 2024 — and a baby on the way in 2025
“Trust in your passion for something and go for it.”
“If you love it, that will show.”
“Doing theater kind of gives me the opportunity to step into the shoes of someone who is far more confident than I ever could be — and then to feel what that feels like.”
“I had spent a lot of time trying to sound like other people... but that's not necessarily what my natural voice wanted or needed to be.”
Resources mentioned
About Sydney
Singer & community theater performer
Sydney May is a Tulsa-born singer and performer who keeps acting and singing as a beloved creative outlet alongside her full-time job. She studied communications with a music minor in Oklahoma City, performs regularly with Theater Tulsa, and has taken on leading roles including Anastasia. After major throat surgery, she rebuilt a healthier, truer voice through dedicated vocal training.
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