I don't really know where to start... It's always hard to define where things started since there was always before, you know what I mean? Like if a boy says he turned gay at 16 it's probably not exactly accurate since he probably felt he fancied men earlier but only at 16 he actually confronted his feelings and got to the conclusion that he's not into woman... Shit, that was a terrible example, wasn't it? Well it's the first thing that came to my mind... You'll get used to me and to my way of thinking...
So... After I really went off the subject... Let's get back to it :)

Musical Theatre is a huge part of my life and has been so since I was 8 and heard the theme duet from “Phantom of the Opera”. I was enchanted by the haunting music and from that moment on I was unstoppable. I bought the double CD and listened to it for weeks, it was love at first sight. Later I turned to Webber’s other musicals – Joseph…, Cats, etc. – and next was Les Miserables and Miss Saigon. I went through most of the known musicals for a period of a few years, I guess it was a process I had to go through in order to mature and be ready for more heavy material. After I expanded my Musical Theatre education I was more experienced and knowledgeable and therefore ready to deal with Sondheim and other less mainstream musicals. I started researching for off-Broadway stuff, found my way to forgotten pieces and through the years assembled a wide repertoire of Musical theatre pieces I know and\or love. The more musicals I know the more I understand how diverse this genre is.

So my love for MT was always in the background, but if I really need to point out when I decided I wanted to do that for a living I'd probably chose 8th grade, around the age of 13-14.
On 7th grade we had, for the first time in our school, a musical ensemble. I found myself getting all the leading parts, for the much envy of my classmates, and suddenly someone actualyl gave me guts and courage and self-confidence. It was the first time I was told I had a good voice and a good potential, and to this very day I am thankful to the person who gave me that self-esteem. His name is Tomer, he was the vocal trainer of our group, and we stayed in tight contact from there on (wow, it's been fucking eight years since we first met!) and I'll always owe him for giving me that first push, and for believeing in me throughout all these years.
Well anyway, in this ensemble we worked, as well as other stuff, on an original musical that Tomer wrote about the story of Passover and Moses's escape from Egypt. I was Pharoah and I enjoyed every minute of it.
Exactly a year later, in the Passover of 2002, we did "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". I was the narrator.
On that same year a friend of mine took me to see "Hair" in Beit-Zvi school of Performing Arts. Beit-Zvi is one of the top acting higher-education schools in Israel, and it's the only school that gives its students a little training in MT. It's not a genre that is very acceptable in Israel...
"Hair" and me was love at first sight. The songs were great, the ideas breath-taking and the energy amazing. I watched the film later on and fell even more in love. Regardless of the fact that it led me to an short era of Hippiness (I wore bell-bottoms and flowery tops for about a year...) it made me realize how much I love it and that I want that to be my profession.

At the end of that year I got accepted to Thelma Yellin high school o the arts, which is Israel's most prestigous place for young artists to train at. Sort of like our local "FAME" institue, where the musicians play the piano every recess and the dance and theatre students sing and dance along... It was strictly theatre training with a bit of singing and dancing but definately not a MT program. I was trained to be a professional actor and I gained some highly important tools and help me to this very day. It was a wonderful era of my life. I was at the top of my class, both in the regular class and in my theatre class, I was highly appriciated and I went through high school working and creating and donating and having tons of fun. I miss it to this very day, and I am very proud and complete with what I did there.

During the year of ages 18-19 I only worked. My plan was to take this year off, work like a slave and save as much money as I can for higher education, and at the age of 19 to start a MT program in London. It was clear to me that my training must be outside of Israel since, as I said, the MT genre is very underdeveloped in Israel, and if one wishes to become a triple-threat performer that couldn't be achieved in an Israeli program.
Unfortunately, when the time came for me to apply I found out I was too late and the deadlines have passed. 
I didn't want to pass another year without evolving artistically, so I signed up for Beit-Zvi. I was hoping to pass a year there (it's a three-year program by I didn't want to finish it in the first place, it was only to pass the time doing something I love) and at the age of 20 begin my studies in London.

The only artistic thing I did during that year was direcing, producing and staring in a semi-amateur production of "Wicked". It was one of the most chllenging experiences of my life and though it was extremely tough I don't regret a minute of it. Being Elphaba was a dream coming true and it taught me an awful lot.
If you're interested you can take a look on my youtube page (a link is provided on the sidebar), there are some videos from that production there.

On September 2007 I flew to London to audition for MT programs. It was a complete disaster.
God knows why, but I chose to audition for schools that put a lot of emphasize on the dance discipline, which is my weakest among the three. I went there insecure and frightened and confronting ballet classes as a way of auditioning really wrecked my self-confidence. I wanted the ground to swallow me alive, literally.
Looking back, it was a mistake. I wasn't ready for it, both professionaly and mentally, and I wasn't surprised when all schools turned me down.

On October 2007 I started Beit-Zvi. I was really disappointed with the London trip and I had no idea what to do with my future. I decided I'd give Beit-Zvi a chance and perhaps, if I like it there, stay for the entire program and see where that gets me.
After less than a month I knew this wasn't the place for me. I discovered I place that believes that only through ruining a student's self-esteem can he be free of his ego and become a good actor. I discovered a place where the teachers were mostly frustrated failed-actors who gave us a hard time cause they didn't make it in the industry. And worse of all - I felt like I wasn't studying anything.
At first it was because, as opposed to most of the other students, I've had former training and I came with wide knowledge of my own. But I was wrong. I spoke to my friends and classmates and they all felt the same. Beit-Zvi wasn't giving me the training I was looking and another path had to be taken.

That's when I thought I might try for AMDA in New-York. I have a friend there and she told me how much fun she's having, and how enriching the whole program is, and it gave me the desire to try again. I was very afraid, though. The London affair really did me harm confidence-wise, and I felt rusty and unprepared. Finally I decided to give it a go and not really get my hopes high, and whatever will be - will be.
I prepared a DVD with a monologue (Abigail from Arthur Miller's "The Crucible", one of my favorite plays ever) and a song ("Bring on the Men" from "Jekyll and Hyde"). I collected recommandations from the head of my high school's theatre department and from my high school acting teacher. I translated school transcrips and wrote three long essays.
On February I sent my application to NY.
I spent the next month being terribly nervous (though I promised myself I wouldn't get my hopes high I couldn't help it, I was so miserable at Bei-Zvi), and on the 19th of March I got a call from the AMDA -
I got in.

Ever since day I've been living on cloud #9, more or less.
My studies begin 30th of June, orientation on the 26th. My birthday is the 14th, I'll be celebrating it in Israel and then I'll say goodbye to all my friends and family and go abroad to start a whole new chapter of my life.

I hope for the best. And for the first in a very long time - I'm optimistic.