4-30-12 – Raised in an environment in which jobs, not careers, were considered appropriate and neither acting nor writing was taken seriously as a way of life Tyla Abercrombie nonetheless discovered early that she was a poet and that she was attracted to, and intrigued by performances of all kinds. Exposure to the classic movies she watched on TV to keep from being scared till her mother came home from work; a performance by the Alvin Ailey dance company at her grammar school; and a production of Sweeney Todd, captivated her. These experience plus the impact she realized she had on others when she read her poetry, stayed with Tyla and although she’d planned to study accounting thinking that it would enable her to “make some money,” she was finally able to honor herself and do “what she wanted;” which was to study writing and acting. And anyone who has seen Tyla on stage as we in Sarasota have been lucky enough to do (she is appearing in You Can’t Take it With You and Clybourne Park at the Asolo Repertory Theatre) is glad that she made that choice. Listen to the forthright, delightful woman tell how she did it her way.