Photo courtesy of Erich Camping.
Alexis Sims, a graduate of Vestavia Hills High School, stars as Ella in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella” during the Geva Theatre’s 50th season in May 2023.
Alexis Sims says she wasn’t a theater kid.
When she was a student at Pizitz Middle School and Vestavia Hills High School, she was in the show choir, but she never acted. She also danced, but never on the dance team.
That is, until the second semester of her junior year, when she decided to play a background role in the ensemble for a production of “Brigadoon.”
“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I love this,’ and I wasn’t even a big part of it,” Sims said.
The next year, she was in two more productions, both musicals, both as part of the ensemble. Then Sims made a surprising decision — she thought this might be what she wanted to do with her life.
“The only thing I knew I wanted to do when I was younger was help people — I wanted people to feel seen and held and not alone,” she said.
She always thought that would mean she’d be a doctor, teacher or another similar career.
“It wasn’t until I started doing musicals that all the pieces started coming together,” Sims said. “When I would perform at talent shows or perform at church, people would come up to me afterward and say, ‘Thank you, I felt x-y-z.’ And I realized that performing arts is medicine, too.”
She said she realized art did all the things she felt called to do — it could help and heal.
“That kind of seemed to be the way my body, my person, was able to do that best,” Sims said.
That realization has led her path, Sims said, noting that she feels like she’s been “divinely guided.” Despite never having a major role in a theater production, she auditioned at the University of Michigan, whose theater program only takes 10 female and 10 male students every year.
And she got in.
“From then on, it was kind of uphill, because everyone else in my program had extensive training and was experienced,” Sims said. “I didn’t know what playbill.com was, or IMDB — I was really behind.”
Fast forward two decades, and she’s had a bright career on screen, on stage and in other mediums. She’s been on TV in episodes of “Blue Bloods,” “Love Life” and “Law & Order SVU.” She’s been in more than a dozen theater productions, including some work on Broadway. And she’s currently recording in the studio for an album she hopes to release next year, in addition to getting ready to workshop a full-length play she wrote.
Faith Lenhart, director of arts education for Vestavia Hills City Schools, said Sims was a “triple threat” with her acting, singing and dancing abilities, even in high school.
“The teachers who were lucky enough to have her in class have been so proud of her career,” Lenhart said. “We use her as an example when we speak to our students about a successful career in the performing arts. Vestavia Hills City School is very proud to call Alexis Sims alumni.”
Sims, who now lives in New York City, said many people in Vestavia have been “wonderful advocates” for her.
She said she would encourage anyone who feels like this might be the path for them to go for it.
“I think anyone who feels called to do something, feels like they’re walking in purpose — that in and of itself is the most rewarding thing,” she said. “In me showing up and being brave enough to be authentically myself to whatever text or songs, that authenticity and light shines through and touches people and builds connection. You don’t need words; they just feel it. It integrates with them.”
She said acting can reach people in a way that challenges their beliefs or changes their frame of reference.
“It can be a vehicle for change and love and connection,” Sims said.
For more information, visit alexisjeanene.com or follow her on Instagram @AlexisJeanene.
