Meet Hailee Beltzhoover | Theatre Artist & Woodruff Arts Center Ambassador

We had the good fortune of connecting with Hailee Beltzhoover and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Hailee, do you have some perspective or insight you can share with us on the question of when someone should give up versus when they should keep going?
As a theatre artist, a huge part of my job is crafting my resilience.

I recently moved to Atlanta to pursue my acting career and get more involved in a city that has a vibrant theatre community. I knew it would be hard, but I had no idea how defeated I would feel after only 6 months. After you get your 10o0th no, you start to question yourself. Am I a bad actor? What is wrong with me? Am I not doing a good job making connections? Self-doubt creeps in, and I know firsthand how difficult it can be to pull yourself out of the hole.

Giving up is much easier than pushing forward. You know whether or not to give up when you feel the passion inside of you die. I don’t believe that ever happens to anyone. I think your passion can become hidden behind other things. Life gets busy, logistical things take precedence, and your craft can get swept under the rug. I can honestly say that no matter how bad I feel after an audition, no matter how hard it is to accept a no, I have never lost my passion. I keep my focus on the reason I do theatre: to tell stories and elevate voices that deserve to be heard.

I feel so deeply about the ideas of resilience and perseverance that I wrote a musical about it. Dandelion: An Original Musical is a story of a high school senior, Jane, and her journey through deciding if she should follow her dreams or stay in her hometown to be the traditional “southern woman” caretaker. Spoiler: She follows her dreams.

So, to answer this question, as cheesy as it sounds, you should never give up. Humans are programmed to persevere. You may not ever end up with what you set out for, but you will always end up doing what is meant for you. If you keep going, you will always end up exactly where you are supposed to be. Giving up is easier, but life is far more about the journey than the destination. No matter what situation you are in, or how impossible it can feel, every day the sun rises is a new day to start again.

If this stranger on the internet can believe in you this much, imagine what believing in yourself can do.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a theatre artist! Originally from Columbia, SC but settled in Atlanta this past May to get back into the swing of things post pandemic. The thing I am most excited about artistically is definitely my full-length musical, Dandelion. My creative team and I started writing Dandelion back in 2017 and had the honor or presenting a concert version of it at the infamous Feinstein’s/54 Below in NYC in August of 2019. Big things are on the horizon for this show, despite the Pandemic adding a few years to the process.

I graduated from Winthrop University in 2019 with my Bachelor’s in Theatre Performance. I had saved money for 3 years and moved myself to NYC shortly after graduating to do the dang thing. Unfortunately, 2020 wasn’t the best time to move there, so I ended up packing up and heading back to SC. I became a middle school theatre teacher for 2 beautiful years before the bug got to me again and I realized I needed to be in a place where more was happening theatre wise. My fiancé and I decided Atlanta would be the best place for me to jumpstart my career.

Nothing about my journey has been easy. Amidst my amazing theatre journey, I have a lot of personal family matters that have continually felt like cinderblocks around my ankles. SO many people can probably relate to this, but a battle with mental illness has been a huge hurdle for my family the past few years. There is virtually no true care for people suffering with mental issues in this country and I feel the weight of that daily. I try my best to keep an optimistic attitude, but I’d be lying if I said there aren’t some really rough days.

Graduating into the COVID-19 pandemic with a theatre degree was one of the most impossible situations, but I trusted myself and let life lead the way. I never anticipated a career in education, but I told myself being a theatre teacher was a wonderful and humbling pitstop along the way of my journey. And it was! The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that sometimes we are holding the reigns too tight. If you let go and let life happen around you, the ride can be much more enjoyable.

The main thing I want the world to know about my story is that it was really a tough decision to choose myself, but I did, and my life is much happier than it would’ve been otherwise. I have days that guilt consumes me, but I know I deserve the life I’ve crafted. I hope you choose yourself, no matter how hard it is. You deserve every good thing.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Best spots in Atlanta:

1. Chattahoochee Food Works: You MUST try Delilah’s Southern Kitchen; they have the best fried chicken and mac and cheese in the world! Oprah agrees! Other highlights in the food hall are Hippie Hibachi and the Ramen joint. So dang yummy.
2. Fetch Dog Park: Seriously a fave for dog lovers, you can have some delicious cocktails and watch all the puppos play in sprinklers, bathtubs, what could be closer to heaven?
3. Piedmont Park: This is basic, but the greenery in Atlanta really sets it apart from other large cities. Piedmont has some awesome walking paths, rentable bikes, and a great dog park! Can you tell I’m a dog person?
4. Virginia Highlands: My fiancé and I attend church in this area and LOVE our Sunday walks through this adorable neighborhood. Awesome bookstore, we love Barbacoa tapas restaurant, and a really good pizza by the slice joint too.
5. 10th Street: For the vibes, 10th street is famous for its rainbow crosswalks and lively nightlife. Definitely taking a friend there on a Friday night.
6. The Woodruff Arts Center: Catching a show at the Alliance Theatre is a must! This esteemed organization deserves all the praise for its elevation of marginalized voices.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
If I truly listed the village of people that have helped me get to where I am today, this website would crash. I have been incredibly lucky and blessed to have the chosen family I have.

A few shoutouts come to mind; first, my amazing and supportive fiancé, Dallas Zuniga. He is an incredible artist in his own right. An eloquent writer, a steadfast reader of everything from Game of Thrones (yes, he read those crazy long books) to Ryan Holiday, and a lifelong student. Without his support, I wouldn’t have had the gusto to move to Atlanta, and I certainly wouldn’t know as much as I do about Star Wars.

Next shoutout: the creative mastermind behind our art baby, Dandelion: An Original Musical. Jessica Fichter, lead writer and director, is a SC based theatre artist and the current executive director of the renowned Trustus Theatre. She is a force of nature on stage and behind the magic of all thing’s live theatre. I have known her for over 13 years, and she has taught me more about this industry than any other class or person.

Final shoutouts: Charlie Miller and Paul Tate. These two gentlemen gave me my first on stage opportunity in the musical Rock of Ages at OnStage Atlanta. Through the process we all became very close, and they are so well versed in the theatre community here, they make it easy to get involved and know what’s going on. Not to mention they are both immensely talented.

Website: https://haileebrooke4885.wixsite.com/my-site

Instagram: @haileebeltzhoover

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hailee-beltzhoover-984ba6253/

Facebook: Hailee Beltzhoover

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@haileebeltzhoover513/videos

Image Credits
Mandy Dyer Photography Max Wilder Photography Janet Gray Photography