Amanda Worthington’s latest album comes out on Nov. 9
WHITEHOUSE – In the 30 years since she first took the stage to sing for others, Amanda Reisner Worthington has performed in church and school choirs, on the community theater stage and even for her second-grade students at Frank Elementary in Perrysburg.
On Sunday, Nov. 9 at 3 p.m., the 2009 Anthony Wayne High School graduate will perform 11 of the 15 songs on her second album, Christmas with Amanda Worthington, during a release party at Community of Christ Lutheran Church in Whitehouse.
She will be accompanied by the church’s music director, Eric Dickey, who encouraged Worthington to record her first album, When Words Fail, in 2023 and has played the piano alongside her for both albums.
“Amanda has such an incredible voice and style, and I had just finished recording my own album at Stone Soup and thought it would be a great place for Amanda to record,” Dickey said of the Maumee recording studio. “They have a nine-foot Yamaha grand piano – which is very unusual – and it made me very happy to play for her.”
The performance will include a variety of holiday songs, including “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” which was completely improvised and done in one take.
“I looked at Eric in the recording studio and said, ‘let’s try this.’ It’s a jazzy version in a lower range. He added so many cool flairs. It’s a traditional song that turned into such a unique sound,” Worthington said. “We know each other’s leads and styles and read off each other really well, so we can just dive in. And Eric is a master, and so cool. I’m so grateful for all these wonderful opportunities.”
When she was 3 years old, she ran up to the front of the church, where the Kids of the Kingdom choir was performing. Her mom told her that she had to be potty-trained in order to join, so she soon complied. By the time she was in first grade, Worthington was taking piano lessons. A 2009 Anthony Wayne High School graduate, Worthington played flute and then piccolo in the band from grades 5-12 and was a valued member of the choir, earning spots with the University of Toledo Honor Choir, district events and even representing the school for the All-State Choir her sophomore year.
“I was a social butterfly but not part of the cool kids,” she said of her high school experience. “I was definitely the goody-two-shoes – but would get called out on my report cards for socializing too much in class.”
In addition to performing in junior high and high school musicals, Worthington dove into community theater. Her first role was as a Marching Munchkin General – a soldier of Munchkinland – during the “Ding, Dong the Witch is Dead” song in the Waterville Playshop production of The Wizard of Oz – when she was 8. For every summer after, she enrolled in the Playshop’s two-week summer musical school, learning the ropes. Those skills helped her land, her sophomore year, the lead role of Polly Baker in Crazy For You at the high school.
“That expanded my range from small parts to having the lead,” she said.
When St. John’s Jesuit High School was looking for females in the production of Les Miserables, Worthington won the role of the innkeeper’s mean wife, Madame Thénardier.
“She’s an evil character with a dark sound. It was fun to manipulate my voice to make it sound more villainous, growly and fun,” she said. In 2019, she was a princess in Disenchanted, a Perrysburg Musical Theater production that she described as a modern, funny take on princesses.
“I was Snow White. It was a huge push for me vocally, belting out high notes. I loved it,” she said.
A 2014 Bowling Green State University graduate, Worthington was a member of the Women’s Chorus and Collegiate Chorale, but switched her major from music education to early childhood education during her sophomore year. Now she sings throughout the day while teaching second graders.
“Kids react so much better to anything musical. It’s a magical thing,” she said.
Recording an album was never a thought, especially considering the cost on a teacher’s salary, she said. But Dickey kept encouraging her to bring her voice to a wider audience, so she began setting money aside for When Words Fail, her 2023 album that includes 12 songs from musicals.
“Anytime I get these moments to go into my ‘musical land,’ I feel like I can connect to my brother – as we sang together,” she said of her brother, Aaron, who died unexpectedly in 2017.
Creating that first album took a while, and releasing it through Spotify enabled anyone to listen. While it didn’t make her rich – “I made $1.61,” she jokes – Worthington said its more about getting the music to her people.
“I don’t want to get famous. I love teaching and I don’t want to leave Ohio. I want to do this for fun,” she said.
When she’s not singing, teaching or performing, Worthington enjoys reading, playing cards and hanging out with her husband, Brian, and their poodle, Prince, aka The Floof.
The Sunday, Nov. 9 concert begins at 3 p.m. at Community of Christ Lutheran Church, 6517 Finzel Rd., and lasts about an hour. A free-will offering will be taken for the church’s building fund and to benefit its mission partner, Salem Lutheran Church in North Toledo.
