Personal Information
Terri Muuss is a multifaceted professional working as an actor, writer, performer, director, educator, and social worker. Her one-woman poetry and prose show, Anatomy of a Doll, has toured the United States and Canada since 1998. The production received grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts and Poets and Writers, earning a "Best Theater: Critics' Pick of the Week" designation from the New York Daily News. Her poetry has been featured in publications such as Bolts of Silk, Apercus Quarterly, Atticus Review, Long Island Quarterly, Brevity Poetry Review, Red River Review, Poetrybay Magazine, and JB Stillwater, alongside three anthologies: Whispers and Shouts: An Anthology of Women's Voices on Long Island (2012), Veils, Halos, and Shackles: International Poetry on the Abuse and Oppression of Women (2013), and the Bards Annual 2013. Her poem "Rialto Beach" secured the 2013 Great Neck Poetry Prize, and her debut book, Over Exposed (JB Stillwater Publishing, 2013), was nominated for the 2014 Pushcart Prize in Poetry. Additionally, Muuss co-produced and hosted the monthly Manhattan poetry series Poetry at the Pulse for two years. Educationally, Terri earned a BA in Theatre from Kean University and trained at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in NYC. She also studied for several years at Michael Howard Studios in NYC under the guidance of Larry Singer, Fay Simpson, Bill Irwin, and Patsy Rodenberg. Her stage credits include the role of Masha in The Seagull at Theatre Row in NYC, Donna in The Taffetas, which was performed regionally in VT, NJ, NY, and Ireland's West End, and Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Beyond live theater, she provided voiceovers for various Anime features, including the roles of Chris in Battle Arena Toshinden, Kai in Iria - Zeiram the Animation, and a role in The Heroic Legend of Arsland, while also appearing in numerous industrial and instructional videos. Muuss has directed hundreds of performances for children and teenagers, covering both original and established plays at schools across New York City and Long Island. She has spent many years directing one-woman Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway productions, including Deborah Ortiz's Changing Violet, which was nominated for two IT Awards for Best Solo Performance and Best Performance Art piece. Other directed works include Veronica Golos's A Bell Buried Deep, based on a book that won the Roerich Poetry Prize and was Pushcart-nominated; Athena Reich's rock opera Athena Under Attack, featured at the Toronto Fringe Festival and the Producers Club in NYC; Lisa Ramirez's Exit Cuckoo at the 63rd Street Y; and Lisa Danser's A Missing Peace. Muuss is also skilled at adapting material for the stage, having done so for both Changing Violet and Lemon Meringue. As a licensed social worker with an MSW from Hunter College ('02), Muuss specializes in using the arts as a healing mechanism for trauma survivors and teaches a course at Rutgers University for social workers titled Youth Development Through the Written Arts. She works as a motivational speaker and life coach with a focus on group work and addiction/abuse counseling. Her social work experience includes positions at GirlSpace in East Harlem and LICADD on Long Island. Following several leave replacement roles as a school social worker, she was hired as the Communications Coordinator for the Bay Shore School District, where she has received numerous awards for her Public Relations efforts. Terri resides on Long Island with her husband, writer Matt Pasca, and their two ginger-haired sons, Rainer and Atticus, who were formerly known as "Presidential Experts" on the Ellen Show.
