About Me

"Those who can, do. Those who can't stop there, teach."

It's been a long strange road to end up here.

Amanda Roark has been performing and working with children long before she knew that she wanted it to be her livlihood. Growing up, she studied voice and piano, performed with MadCAP, CTM, and Madison Theatre Guild as well a numerous productions at Edgewood High School. As she got older, she began mentoring in Eager Reader and interning with the Madison Creative Arts Program until she graduated high school.

Although her first years at Illinois State University were spent as a Theatre Acting Major, it became clear that she was much happier using her performance skills in a classroom. During this time, she was also was a member of the Theatre Education Association and hosted a variety of community outreach programs in Bloomington Normal. This included workshops with the local Girl Scouts of America Troupes, volunteer work at the Children’s Museum, and various clinical hour opportunities in Normal and Peoria. She also taught weekly Creative Drama classes under Michael Vetere and was a co-creator of an Anti-Bullying workshop that was circulated and performed at a variety local schools.

Through it all, music and performance remained front and center in both her professional and personal life. After graduation, she moved to Chicago in hopes of finding teaching opportunities or invest in her own ventures. When a chance meeting while out singing karaoke landed her an interview Top Note Music Academy, she knew she'd found her home base. While still a young company, Top Note has thrived in its first few years. Amanda is thrilled to have contributed through Music n' Me classes for ages infant-5, private voice and piano lessons, school and private demos, even birthday party performances. But what she's truly excited and grateful for is the opportunity to begin her summer musical theatre program, "Once More with Feeling."

While music, performance, and teaching have been passions for most of her life, cosplay is new. After attending her first Comic Con in 2011, building costumes and role playing as various characters grew from a hobby to an absolute passion. Her own cosplay company, Contellation Cosplay is currently underway. But what she's most excited about is her latest foray into children's birthday party entertainment. She can't wait to find out to watch her projects grow.