Miller South Drama Parents Association, Miller South School for the Visual & Performing Arts, 1055 East Ave, Akron, OH (2021)

06/06/2021

Meet the cast/crew for A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Prudence (Stage Manager) Pru made her stage debut at 2 years old playing a Gnome and has been actively pursuing a theatrical career ever since, most recently being seen onstage as Snoopy in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown- also here at Miller South! Pru has been working more backstage as well, and is thrilled to be working backstage again. She is an 8th grade Drama and Band student at Miller South, avid oboe student, and loves to create – writing, drawing, crafting, and many more hobbies!

06/06/2021

Meet the cast/crew for A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Logan (Tom Snout) was born November 26, 2008. His interest area is band and art and he plays the clarinet. He also has a four-year-old sister named Rae. Originally from Stow, Ohio, he came to Miller South from Woodland Elementary. In Woodland, Logan was class president in fourth grade. And, that’s about all. I mean I’m only twelve.

06/06/2021

Meet the cast/crew for A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Kennede’ (Nick Bottom/Pyramus), from Akron, Ohio is an A student Actress attending Miller South. Kennede’ has attended Miller South and been a part of the theatre department for 5 years. Kennede’ has worked on the Miller South tech team for 3 years. Tech credits include Miller South dance performances, Miller South vocal performances, The Wind and the Willows, Sonnets for an Old Century, and Mary Poppins. Kennede’ is also a part of the Jr. Thespian troupe at Miller South.

06/05/2021

Meet the cast/crew for A Midsummer Night's Dream

Miranda (Peaseblossom) is a 6th grader in her first year at Miller South. She is currently on honor roll, and at her previous school served on student council and as a school ambassador. Miranda has attended Weathervane Theater summer camps and workshops for acting, musical theater, improv and stage makeup. She also enjoyed taking acting and stage fencing workshops at Ohio Shakespeare Festival. She has participated in two May Festivals, and had a solo in 4th grade. She was in the school musical (You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown) and was the Little Redheaded Girl. Miranda studies piano, enjoys singing with Summit Choral Society, and dances at Creative Motion Studios.

06/05/2021

Meet the cast/crew for A Midsummer Night's Dream

Noa (Hermia), originally from Manhattan, New York, is a student actor in the Akron district. She is a seventh-grade theatre student at Miller South School for the Visual and Performing Arts. Acting credits include Wizard of Oz (The lion), Stories of the Kindertransport (Young Eva), Sonnets for an Old Century (Sonnet number 9), The Tempest (ensemble), Love’s Labour's Lost (Rosaline), and You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (ensemble

06/05/2021

Meet the cast/crew for A Midsummer Night's Dream.

CATS RULE is Miller South student Melodie (Titania) favorite sentence. She enjoys dancing and long walks to the fridge. She is a Dancer not only at Miller South VPA, but DanceWorks Dance Studio in Cuyahoga Falls. Melodie has been a victor in a Skittle eating contest, and many Irish Dance competitions. She has competed in ASCI Speech Meets. She enjoys acting. She has participated in the musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. In the future, she hopes to become a professional dancer, and take more long walks to the fridge

06/04/2021

Meet our guest Actress and our Costume Designer for A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Katie Wells (Hippolyta, Costume Designer):

Katie is thrilled to be working on Miller South's first summer production! This will mark the 6th production of A Midsummer Night's Dream she has been a part of! She has been acting professionally for over 10 years and has appeared on stages and screens throughout the states of Ohio and New York. Favorite NEO professional theatres she has performed with include: Rubber City Theatre, Ohio Shakespeare Festival, None Too Fragile, Cleveland Public Theatre, Ensemble Theatre, Cleveland Shakespeare Festival, Magical Theatre, The Illusion Factory and Blank Canvas Theatre to name a few. As a costume designer, she recently designed Miller South's production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. After attending Cleveland State University, she has been designing professionally since 2007. Her designs have been seen throughout the states of Ohio, Maryland and New York. In addition to holding over 6 local design residencies in the last 10 years her work has been seen at Rubber City Theatre, Cleveland Public Theatre, Pickwick and Frolic/Hilarities in downtown Cleveland, The Cleveland Ingenuity Fest, The Illusion Factory, World Without Windows Theatre, Avenue Arts Theatre, and dozens of NEOhio schools, colleges and community theatres. Awards include: a Certificate of Merit in Design from the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts for her work on In The Blood at CSU and two Best Design Awards from Broadwayworld.com's "Best of Cleveland 2014 Awards" for her work on Legally Blonde the Musical and Steel Magnolias. Thank you for supporting the arts in schools!

06/04/2021

Meet our guest Actor and Director for A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Alex Funk (Oberon, Director), originally from Columbus, is an actor, director and teacher in the Akron area. He holds a B. A. in Theatre Arts from The University of Akron with licensure to teach Drama/Theatre in grades K-12. He has taught theatre at Miller South School VPA for six years. Alex has worked for Weathervane Playhouse, OSF, The Greater Cleveland Aquarium, The Salvation Army, Cleveland Shakespeare Festival and Rubber City Theatre. Directing credits include The Wedding Singer, Once on This Island, The King Stag, Cinderella, Stories of the Kindertransport, The Tempest, The Wind in the Willows, Mary Poppins and You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Acting credits include A View from the Bridge (Rodolpho), The Great God Brown (Billy Brown), Henry IV: Part 1 (Gadshill), The Bacchae 2012 (Dionysus), As You Like It (Rosalind), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Demetrius, Oberon/Theseus), Much Ado About Nothing (Benedick) Macbeth (Hecate/Malcolm), Hamlet (Hamlet), Romeo and Juliet (Mercutio/Prince), Tame (Horace), Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure (Sherlock Holmes), Love’s Labour’s Lost (Berowne) and The Winter’s Tale (Leontes).

06/04/2021

Meet our guest Actor for A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Chris Simmons (Theseus) grew up in northeast Ohio and has been active as a director, designer and actor for over a decade. He holds Bachelor’s degrees in Theatre Arts and Education as well as a Master’s in Education from The University of Akron. Onstage, some of his favorite credits include: Guys and Dolls (Nicely Nicely Johnson), Aida (Zoser), the Northeast Ohio Premiere of The Gospel According to Tammy Faye (Jerry Falwell), A Christmas Carol (Scrooge), Godspell, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Nick Bottom) and Big River, for which he earned an American College Theatre Festival Irene Ryan nomination for his portrayal of The King, opposite Alex Funk as The Duke. As a director, he has been fortunate enough to work at several northeast Ohio theatres, including: Rubber City Theatre, Weathervane Playhouse and Buckeye Community Theatre. His directing credits include productions of: Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida, The Crucible, Little Shop of Horrors, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, The Importance of Being Earnest, Oklahoma!, The Wizard of Oz, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Little Mermaid and Les Misérables. Chris is also currently serving on the Board of Directors for Rubber City Theatre and is looking forward to his ninth year as Director of Drama at Nordonia High School in Macedonia, Ohio, his alma mater.

06/04/2021

Meet our choreographer for A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Ashley Watts (Choreographer) is a native of the Pittsburgh area. She was a member of the Mon Valley Ballet Company prior to relocating to Ohio. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Education from Kent State University. She is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Dance Education at the University of North Carolina Greensboro.
As an advocate for dance education, she has presented at the National Dance Education Organization Conference and currently sponsors a Junior Chapter.
She has choreographed over 200 dance pieces in her career including work for the musicals: The Little Mermaid, Once on This Island, Cinderella, The Wind in the Willows, Mary Poppins and You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.
This is her sixth year teaching dance at Miller South. She also teaches dance at On Pointe Arts Dance Studio in North Canton where she resides with her husband.

06/03/2021

Meet the cast/crew for A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Ile (Robin Starveling) originally from Uniontown, is an actress, gymnast, dancer and skater in the Akron/Canton area. She is a 6th grade Theatre student at Miller South School VPA. Her other Theatre experience is with Theatre 8:15, in Green, Weathervane Playhouse and Rubber City Theatre. Plays she’s performed in are Green Eggs and Ham, The Frog Prince, Daisy Head Maisie, Mini, The Pied Piper of Hamelin Town, and Peter Pan. She also played Jamie Kurtzman in a short film called An Age Old Tale.