Big city lights attract Vanduser native

SIKESTON -- Growing up, Vanduser native Andrew Alberson was always told by his parents that if he wanted something badly enough, he could get it. He would just have to put his mind to it.

"I'd always tell him: If you want your dream, you've got to pursue it. It's not going to become a reality until you do it," said Lucy Alberson of Vanduser.

Alberson said she first noticed her son's interest in performing after he visited New York City during a school-sponsored trip when he was attending Scott County Central High School.

"He was really wanting to do it. I told him: you have no ties here, and if you're going to do it, you may as well pursue it," Lucy Alberson recalled.

After graduating high school, Alberson co-owned and managed Antonio's Salon in downtown Sikeston for several years, as well as worked as a licensed Realtor for Century 21 Premiere Realty.

The aspiring actor also spent a couple summers in New York City where he received training guided by New York University as well as an extensive program at H.B. Studio, an intimate school for performance-based training. He was also involved in the Sikeston Little Theatre, his mother said.

"I was repeatedly told by my mother that I could be anything I wanted to be. And while I had established a career and comfortable life in Missouri as a business owner and Realtor, it wasn't feeding the desire that had always been in my heart to be a performer," said Alberson.

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