For 2014 Alumnus of the Year Amick Byram (’77), going “into every person’s world” has meant using his considerable God-given talents to impact those in the entertainment industry through acting, singing, producing and directing.
Byram says he grew up “all over the world.” His father was a pastor and U.S. Air Force chaplain. His mother taught piano and voice, directed the church choir wherever they lived and organized musical evenings in their home.
“She’d invite everybody from the church and everybody from the neighborhood,” Byram said. “They’d come to our house and there would be music for three or four hours.”
It’s no wonder Byram and his siblings, Danny (’80) and Judy Viccellio (’76), “enjoyed music, pursued it, studied it and made something of it in our careers,” Byram said.
Byram’s first solo performance was in first grade, when he sang “The Old Rugged Cross” in church. By high school, he was a stellar performer in choir and in musicals. His involvement in music continued at ORU, but he sensed that it wasn’t the right major for him.
[ORU] helped to clearly define not only how God views me as an individual, but also reinforced the importance of how I present myself to the world …
“I went to registration at the beginning of my junior year … and I still did not know what I wanted to declare. At the first stop, they gave me a computer printout, and on it, it said, ‘Amick Byram. Major: Business. Music minor.’ So I thought, ‘OK. That sounds good.’”
He sees that now as “a God thing,” because “it has been very, very helpful in my career and in my life since then.”
While the business degree has been a blessing, it was his role in a quartet called Reflection that gave him valuable onstage experience. During Byram’s junior year, he and Mitch Moore (’77), David Grothe (’78, ’98-M.A.) and Don Seeley (’77-MBA) were invited to become part of Oral Roberts’ TV ministry, singing on the Sunday morning program and primetime specials. This was when Byram says he became convinced that being a performer was what he was meant to do.
Los Angeles was a logical destination for someone with his ambition, but he was no overnight success.
“It was a slow burn,” he said of his career.
Eventually, though, significant opportunities came his way: a spot in a professional workshop for musical theater performers, where he met his wife, Cassie; roles on the Broadway stage in Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera and Sunset Boulevard, where he starred opposite Glenn Close; a regular role on Star Trek: The Next Generation as Ian Troi, Counselor Troi’s father, and guest spots on other series; two Grammy nominations; and singing roles “in every Disney-animated feature since The Little Mermaid,” he said. He is perhaps best known for singing the role of Moses in Dreamworks Animation’s The Prince of Egypt.
Byram also serves as president of Oodles World, a company that creates and distributes values-based products for the family marketplace. Oodles Entertainment, a new venture, will play to his strengths with its focus on movies, television shows and other entertainment products.
Living out his faith while pursuing his dreams in four distinct areas of the entertainment business wasn’t an outcome Byram could have foreseen as a young child. And considering the volatility of his chosen profession, it’s no wonder he feels like “the most blessed man in the entire world.”
What he learned at ORU also made a big difference.
“The whole-person concept of spirit, mind and body at ORU has had a profound impact on my life,” Byram said. “It helped to clearly define not only how God views me as an individual, but also reinforced the importance of how I present myself to the world as spiritually balanced, mentally prepared and with the physical capacity to go into every man’s world and fulfill God’s calling on my life.”
