Meet Sky Betz

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sky Betz. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sky below.

Sky, so great to have you on the platform and excited to have you share your wisdom with our community today. Communication skills often play a powerful role in our ability to be effective and so we’d love to hear about how you developed your communication skills.

Live Stage Performance- particularly opera and musical theatre- have been my primary tools of developing communication skills over the years. In a musical or an opera (sometimes even within a single song), I have a story to tell, a personal character journey to go on, and an audience to connect with and communicate that story to.

With the repertoire I am cultivating for myself as an artist, I find myself performing in many different languages with no guarantee my audiences will consist of listeners who will understand what is sung or said without the need for translation.

Therefore, I have learned to build both verbal as well as nonverbal communication skills so anyone present can have the opportunity to feel the music and understand the story.

When one is an especially great communicator, they can become a source of incredible accessibility and advocacy. Music is a universal language; the most beautiful form of them all, in my opinion. It is the ultimate source of effective communication, having the power to unite and inspire and spark conversation and change.

There are so many wonderful artists out here with stories to be told, and they deserve a chance and the resources to pursue their dreams and change the world for the better. If communicating effectively provides me a platform on which to draw greater visibility to our artists and our missions, I say: Turn up the microphone.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Sol On Stage Studios, also known as S.O.S., was founded by President Savannah Noel, Vice President Bradley B. Combs, Secretary Sky Betz (that’s me!), and Artistic Director Arielle Violla in 2023.

We aim to bring talent in our community together by promoting creativity, inclusivity, passion, equal opportunity, and a voice for all. The arts are a pivotal instrument in any individual’s life and we believe there is no better way to honor its importance than by promoting the arts in all its forms.

With decades of combined experience in music, theatre, and film, our small but mighty nonprofit is steadily gaining traction here in Carroll County, Maryland. We collaborate with many local artists and organizations, including Project C Studios, Wisdom Court Entertainment, and Find Your Purpose, Inc., and have had the absolute pleasure of building a relationship with the supportive and enthusiastic team at the historic Westminster Opera House, who are overseeing the renovations and restorations of the building for future performance and community opportunities.

We are currently working to raise funds for our first main stage production as well as to support our growing troupe, while engaging in community events as individual artists and as a collective to perform where we can, when we can. We want to be visible and build recognition within our community, as well as draw out hidden talent who are encouraged by seeing what we do and want to be a part of the journey. Our intent is to grow with S.O.S. and not be afraid of being the change we want to see in the world- especially the theatre world.

Our dream is to bring Broadway-caliber quality productions to our towns here in Carroll County. We love Maryland and have every intent of growing from the roots we have here and blooming beyond what is thought possible in the orchard of artistry that already exists around us. Some members of our troupe are actors with disabilities, so bringing accessibility to theatre for both performers and audiences alike is a driving force behind our team’s creative vision. Inaccessibility should never keep talent from shining onstage, so we aim to open doors and raise the standard for casting diversity of all kinds in theatre, with understanding, empathy, and compassion for the human experience extending after the cast list is posted; all the way through the production and into the next.

The best way to support our growing cause is to follow our social media [ @s.o.s.studios ] and be on the lookout for performance and organizational announcements. We ask for understanding and patience with our socials- we are as real as anyone else and cannot always keep up with social media. We are working to reestablish our online presence while not living life attached to the screen. Our group is small, and no member of our current team is a social media enthusiast, so we aim to realistically update when we can until we have a team member who would enjoy running our socials on the regular.

Another way to support our team is to support our community- especially the aforementioned organizations (Project C Studios, Wisdom Court Entertainment, and Find Your Purpose, Inc.) as well as the individual artists themselves: Laurie Dodge, Billy Lyve, Arielle Violla, Lawrence Frazier III a.k.a. L3, Calla Fuqua, and so many others. We are stronger, together.

The Westminster Opera House is currently 5+ years into its transformation and has a team of dedicated, loving enthusiasts working to restore and renovate the building into an incredible community hub. With the steady progress well underway, we invite and encourage everyone to support the ongoing project as it continues, even if it’s like Wonka’s factory and you can’t see inside: Trust that the magic is happening and there’s sweetness to come.

Lastly: Our team at S.O.S. enjoys putting on music Showcases every few months. We will make announcements for upcoming events on our socials, so please follow us @s.o.s.studios for opportunities and performance announcements. We look forward to growing with you!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I’m still early on in my own journey, for sure! Three solid pieces of advice I would give to someone who is on their own journey and open to what I’ve learned thus far:

1. “It gets easier.”

This actually comes from one of my favorite shows, Bojack Horseman, which, if I didn’t want to encourage any reader who can handle the subject material of the show (discretion advised) to watch, I would probably use quotes from for this entire response.

The writing in that show really helped shape the way I think about my own approach to life. The do’s and don’ts, wills and won’ts, the times where you have to “get your Sh*t together” and the beauty and nuance of a well-placed f-bomb and when to mean it, and how we respond to trauma and choose to enable or overcome the destructive instincts we’re equipped with as a result of those traumas.

This one quote, “It gets easier. Every day, it gets a little easier. But you have to do it every day- that’s the hard part. But it does get easier.”, while at the time referencing the literal act of jogging and running uphill, can be applied to nearly any hardship that one faces in developing a new or underused skill. As someone who unintentionally bristles at the “Things will get better, just you wait and see” approach to optimism, this take on seemingly insurmountable odds resonated with me in a way that fueled my fire- doing it every day would be hard- accepting that alone made it easier- but then knowing that if I did do it every day it would get easier to do reassured me to keep at it. Passivity versus passionate pursuit- knowing it will be hard either way, but running with it rather than from it or not at all.

Every skill is a muscle. You have to work at it to build it up, and then you have to maintain it if you don’t want it to atrophy. A previously unused muscle will be weak and tender, but build it up consistently and allow yourself the grace to not have completely linear progress. But it will get easier.

2. “I can’t promise it’s going to feel okay, but it’s going to be okay.”

As someone who struggles with mental as well as chronic health conditions, I experience intense emotions as a full-body experience, sometimes sending my system into overdrive or shock.

This quote came to me during one of the hardest times of my life. I was living a distance away from most of my family and friends and there was nothing, realistically speaking, that they could have done for me during this time of crisis other than offer words of support.

Anyone and everyone could and did tell me I was okay, but it wasn’t until my dear friend acknowledged the possibility of me not feeling okay while still being okay that I was able to find the eye of the storm, and safely harbor in the knowledge that I would be okay when the storm passed, even if I felt every moment of the deluge.

Feel your feelings, but remember that the world exists outside them and will still be here when those feelings are not demanding your focus. Give yourself grace but stay accountable.

3. “The daisy blooms without regard for how the roses grow.”

As far as I know, this quote is in my own words! I have used this quote for years when encouraging people to be their truest, weirdest, kindest selves.

I was- and still am- one of /those/ kids. The one who pretended to play Pokémon on the school playground. The one who made the huge emo-goth hybrid transformation in middle school but became a human highlighter by freshman year, going from monochromatic black to neon colors and outfits that could have guided airplanes into a runway at night. By junior year, I had transferred districts and completely started over in a new school. I never pretended to be less than myself throughout the whole process, and even managed to make enough of an impression in my new school to be voted “Most Likely to Be an Actress” for senior superlatives. Theatre kids will always be theatre kids, you know? If you embrace it, the right people will, too.

I was a daisy, and I never wanted to pretend to be a rose (The thorns looked stressful, anyways). But I use the daisy and rose comparison to remind people that flowers are beautiful in their own ways and thrive in their own conditions, and if you try to grow with the same expectations as the other flowers in the garden, you’ll never bloom in your own right.

I’ve always marched to the beat of my own drum, and I’ve felt the highs and lows of doing so. The right tribe will compliment your vibe, if not match it, if you keep your beat. Keep drumming, keep on keeping on, and allow yourself to go through all the weird and wonderful yous you’ve been and will be- you can be embarrassed the same way you would a little sibling or an old silly photo, but be gentle- it was and still is you, and you deserve to bloom to your fullest.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

As both an individual artist and as a member of Sol On Stage Studios, I am open to artistic collaboration for future projects, including but not limited to: music, stage, and screen.

When I think about the future and the troupe we are trying to build, it comes down to Passion, Perseverance, and Personal Integrity.

With Passion, we are looking for people who love what they do. Whether performer, musician, director, writer, designer, dancer, singer, actor, silk aerialist, contortionist, puppet enthusiast, ventriloquist, stuntperson, stage combat expert, technicians, house managers, ushers, and more, there are so many niche roles in the arts that we have room for. We encourage all strengths- if you want to get involved and have NO experience, that’s fine, too! A blank canvas means endless possibilities! As long as you have passion, we’ll find the perfect outlet for your spark!

Perseverance is key when it comes to local theatre. We aren’t a huge, multi-million dollar Broadway-level company (yet!). Progress is not linear: We anticipate setbacks, budget restraints and fundraising needs, as well as human needs and the occasional Bad Luck Life Dice Roll, and our team needs to be comprised of people who can let themselves be afraid of falling off their horses, but who saddle up anyways. We are in this together, and even if one of us falls, we’ll help each other back up and power through until we’re where we want to be. Not letting the little things get us down, or the big things keep us down, is crucial to the strength of our will to get where we want to be.

Personal Integrity is an absolute in our troupe members. The S.O.S. team is made up of people trying to do what we love, and in order to keep doing so and do it sustainably we have set a firm standard, a boundary, for ourselves and the members of our team. Transparency with casting, communication and accountability with board members, respect for both our resident and guest artists, and nurturing the bonds we have with our community leaders and the people who have helped us and continue to support us as we grow are all core values of Sol On Stage and the team that founded it.

If you are reading this and are an artist who’s genuinely passionate about the performance arts and wanting to join a community committed to empathy, transparency, compassion, and diversity within the entertainment industry: We are your people.

Connect with us through social media – on Instagram we are @s.o.s.studios , and our email is sol.onstage.studios@gmail.com – introduce yourself and let us know who you are as an artist and we will let you know of any upcoming performance opportunities we have!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @s.o.s.studios
• Youtube: @SolOnStage
• Other: sol.onstage.studios@gmail.com

Image Credits

Rob Betz
Vagabond Players, Inc.
Mort Shuman
S.O.S. Studios