her to pursue a musical theater,
dance and theater education, and
it turned out to be an excellent
choice. Miller graduated Summa
Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts
in theater.
Her next stop was in summer stock
at the Barn Theatre in Augusta,
Michigan where she (and years
before, where Jonathan Larsen who
wrote Rent), served as apprentices.
After that, ready or not, Miller
headed off to conquer New York.
Bursting with energy and ambition,
she took five dance classes a day,
along with voice lessons.
She wound up doing a lot of
regional theater. One such gig
in Naples, Florida provided the
opportunity for her to meet
her future husband. As that gig
concluded, they flew back to New
York together, where she won the
audition to tour from 2002-2004
with the national company of 42nd
Street.
The show never lost its popularity,
at least not for the more than 800
shows during the two-and-a-half
years it toured across the country.
Miller also danced in the Broadway
revival, as part of the production’s
closing cast.
keeps one in the game,” says Miller.
Knowing about Amy Miller now
brings us to the origin of TTC and
its summer show, Best of Broadway
Under the Stars.
Established in 2008 as a 501(c)(3),
TTC had its birth at Punta Banda
in Baja, Mexico. Their mission was
to enlist holistic health specialists
to “integrate physical and mental
health practices into artist training—
working with specialists in fields of
fitness, nutrition, psychology, music
therapy and neuroscience.”
Their research expanded across
the United States, and by the time
they finished their initial phase,
known as Project Knowledge, they
had enlisted the input of more
than 450 people. The information
they received sprang from the
ranks of artists and directors at
top regional theaters like the
Oregon Shakespeare Festival in
Ashland, Oregon, the Arena Theatre
in Washington, D.C., and the
Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago,
along with Broadway producers,
students and professors. These
studies laid the foundation for TTC.
To comply with certain rules that
don’t apply to state lands, following
a countrywide search, TTC settled
in Jack London State Historic Park
in Sonoma. Initially, they did a
one-night benefit, where around
900 people showed up. So against
all odds, magical things occurred.
Using $5 from every ticket sale, they
were able to donate $267,000 to the
park in their first five years.
Although the park had been slated
to close in 2011, it has remained
open thanks to TTC, which
breathed new life into the venue by
contributing more than a quarter of
a million dollars over the past few
years to for its care and upkeep.
So how did Miller keep things
fresh? By keeping in mind that at
each new show, the people in the
audience were seeing it for the
first time, and that her goal was
to connect with them. “They’re
in the theater for a reason,” she
stated. And since she had achieved
her childhood dream to dance on
Broadway, she never took that, or
performing for an audience, for
granted.
The other way Miller keeps fresh
and motivated is to always be
working on multiple creative
projects, including online courses
and video projects. “Staying creative
while you’re still doing a show
Transcendence Theatre Company
MARIN ARTS & CULTURE 25