Who We Are |

“Theatre for People Who Didn’t Know They Liked Theatre”

MISSION STATEMENT

Awesome Theatre is a Bay Area Theatre company dedicated to producing new, relevant, stylized, theatrical, live multimedia entertainment that will not only appeal to theatre audiences but to those who are just as likely to see a stand up comic, a movie or a concert as they are a play. We strive to create work that is accessible, creative, unique and knowing without being pretentious. Theatre is one of the last things we cant do or experience alone, there always has to be another person in the room. Our goal at Awesome Theatre is to create a lasting and original adventure for every audience member and collaborator, a shared escapade of escapist entertainment.

THE NERDS IN CHARGE

Executive Producer- Anthony R Miller

Anthony has been producing live entertainment of some sort in the Bay Area for 20 years, with one foot in the world of Regional Theatre and the other in the world of Camp, Cult, and DIY. Getting his start working backstage and (getting fired from) every admin department at American Musical Theatre of San Jose, and at the same time hosting and producing “The Rocky Horror Picture Show“, his own midnight movie series and poetry readings. This led to his 5 years performing, organizing and Coaching for the San Jose Poetry Slam. As a coach, he worked with artists in the process of editing their work and refining their performance, ultimately sending a team to the National Semi-Finals. As a performer, he wrote and performed original work earning the title of the San Jose Grand Slam Champion for two consecutive years. He has recorded 2 spoken world Albums (Polaroids & Happy Hour), self published two poetry books (Love Bastard & Dance Party On My Heart), and toured nationally. He organized other large-scale performance poetry events such as War of Words, which blended head to head poetry competition with the world of pro wrestling. After graduating from SF State University with a degree in dramaturgy, Anthony worked full-time as the House and Sales Manager at the SF Playhouse. While there he also served as an Assistant Director, curator for their monthly talkback series for patrons and students. In addition, he produced the Sunday Night Solo Series, which showcased up and coming solo talent in their own one person show, featuring artists such as Graham Gremore, and “Mighty” Mike McGee. Playwriting credits include Zombie! The Musical!, Camp Evil (Terror-Rama), Christian Teen Dolphin-Sex Beach Party (SF Olympians Festival) and Sexy Vampire Academy (Terror-Rama 2). He is a former columnist for SF TheatrePub and currently the Bay Area Ambassador for the Dramatists Guild. He currently works at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Group Sales and as an Instructor for Center Rep’s Young Rep Theatre Intensive. He lives in Berkeley with his partner, Natalie, and their two cats who can’t seem to stop eating.

Artistic Director – Colin Johnson

Colin has toiled in the trenches of local independent theatre for nearly a decade, but the art monster in him goes way back.

He started at age 5 selling his own picture books in his driveway and never stopped. He became fascinated with genre-bending at an early age and has continually looked for ways to break down the barrier between theatre and film. He is fascinated by the subjective creative process as well as unique perspectives on human misfortune, which split off into the genres you know as horror and comedy (one-in-the-same at their bones).

His credits extend across just about every local enterprise in the Bay, from Playground, SF Shotz, Pianofight, Olympians, EXIT Theatre, Actors Ensemble, Bay One Acts, BattleStache Studios, Fringe, Circus Center and Theatre Pub (among others) to publishing two short plays, a full-length graphic novel and taking a horror film to San Diego Comic-Con.

Awesome Theatre and Colin are a match made in heaven. He enjoys near-impossible challenges and bringing new voices, styles and ideas to the bustling theatre scene, where he has gotten to know and collaborate with innumerable talented individuals.

He also sells books at a local independent bookstore and trains clowns how to perform on camera.

Artistic Producer- Jess Thomas

Jess Thomas is an all-around theatre and film-type fella, holding a BA in Theatre and a BA in Film from Eastern Washington University.

After graduating, Jess moved to San Francisco and never looked back. He has worked with several local theatre companies, including SF Theatre Pub, AMIOS West, The Dark Room, and The Cutting Ball Theater as an actor, director, writer, producer, and even stage manager. He has also been seen onstage with Ross Valley Players, Quantum Dragon Theater, SHOTZ, Awesome Theatre, and First Person Singular.

In 2015/16, Jess directed, shot, and edited “Kaytay All the Way”, an 8 episode independent web series that was featured at the Downtown LA Film Festival. In 2016, Jess also stage managed Awesome Theatre’s “Terror-Rama 2” at PianoFight and produced two rounds of AMIOS’ “Shotz”.

Jess used to be an adventurer like you, until he took an arrow to the knee.

Artist in Residence- Claire Rice

Claire Rice is sitting behind you in the dark somewhere and she is judging your hair cut. Her plays include Sex in the Next Room, Woman Come Down, The Carmine Lie, It Ain’t Me, Water Line, Demeter’s Daughter, Pride and Succubus, Ares and Eris, Cassandra, The Effects of Ultraviolet Light, and Choose Your Own Apocalypse. Her most recent play, Purity, was produced as part of Awesome Theatre’s Terror-Rama 2: Prom Night. She has also been lucky enough to have short plays featured in San Francisco Olympians Festival, Pint-Sized Plays, Shotz SF, and Llama Theater’s Monthly Question series. Claire graduated from Eastern New Mexico University with a BFA in Performance before moving to San Francisco to earn her MFA in Playwriting from SF State. She is currently working on My Cannibal Summer for Awesome Theatre’s Terror-Rama 3 and an untitled radio active monster play for Quantum Dragon Theatre Company. She lives and works in San Francisco with her wonderful husband.

She also thinks it’s weird she wrote this in the third person.