Michelle Miller Joins Boston College's Theatre Department

Accomplished actor, singer, arts educator, filmmaker and activist Michelle Miller, a 1998 graduate of Boston College, joins the University's Theatre Department this academic year as the Rev. J. Donald Monan, S.J. Professor in Theatre Arts.

Bridging the gap between stage and film, Miller is regarded as the consummate modern entertainment professional. As an actor and singer, she has performed in off-Broadway shows, in the International Fringe Festival, at New York City's Lincoln Center and at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT. She was a founding member of Any Minute Now Productions in NY, with which she performed and produced The Triumph of Love The Musical, John & Jen, and Hello Again! She also has sung with the New Haven Symphony, The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra and the Boston Pops under the batons of John Williams, Marvin Hamlisch and Keith Lockhart.

"Michelle Miller is an exciting choice for the 2015-2016 Monan Professorship. She is an extraordinary actress, singer, filmmaker, and teacher with enormous compassion for humanitarian causes," says BC Theatre Department Chair and Associate Professor Crystal Tiala. "Michelle is a shining example of what a Boston College education is all about and the quintessential role model for our students."

As Monan Professor in Theatre Arts (more on the professorship below), Miller will direct Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel (October 21-25, 2015), hailed by Time magazine as the best musical of the 20th century. She will teach an advanced musical theater performance class which will explore how to embody a character through personalizing the text and freeing the natural voice, using a one-on-one approach to identify and work through physical and emotional blocks unique to each student.

"I'm so looking forward to my time as the Monan Professor of Theater Arts. It's such a privilege to teach and this particular group of students is exceptional in their talent, dedication and their kindness," Miller said.

Miller also will collaborate on campus with theater students, department professors and guest artists; serve as vocal coach for the fall production of Charles L. Mee's Big Love (November 19-22, 2015), directed by BC Professor of Theatre Scott T. Cummings; serve as consultant for the new Irish musical, Learning How to Drown, written by BC alumna and theater major Patricia Noonan '07 (February 17-21, 2016). Miller also will be a guest lecturer in the Independent Television & Film course and lead a number of vocal performance workshops open to all interested BC students.

In the last 17 years Miller has merged her theater training and professional development skills with her commitment to service and activist work, to become a world-class educator and leader in the arts. She has worked in recent years as a producer, photographer and scriptwriter, and has been involved with Project Explorer, an award-winning non-profit educational film company whose mission is to bring the world into the classroom. She produced, filmed and storyboarded The Castle Project, a film about Colorado's infamous "haunted mansion," featured in the documentary film section of the Cannes Film Festival in 2013. Miller was nominated for six Heartland Emmy Awards for her work as a producer and photographer on The Rocky Mountain Experience (2014, 2013), a PBS adventure sports series which won the 2013 award for Best Television Pilot at the Nevada Film Festival.

Active in humanitarian and philanthropic efforts, Miller is vice-chair on the board of trustees for ASTEP (Artists Striving to End Poverty), a non-profit which connects artists with underserved youth around the world. She produced 18 concerts in New York City--with award-winning composers and Tony-nominated performers--highlighting and promoting new musical works, and fundraising to benefit ASTEP's international service projects. Miller has taken five extended service trips to a rural community outside Bangalore, India for the Shanti Bhavan Children's Project--doing fundraising, project development and teaching some of the country's poorest children.

In 2009 she was inducted as a Dame of Malta into The Knights of Malta, a thousand-year-old Catholic organization that invites members based on their commitment to faith, philanthropy and service. Miller was invited not only for her work with Shanti Bhavan and ASTEP, but for her years of inner-city outreach work with Christmas in October, which was founded by her father and has rehabilitated urban homes for three decades. Through the Knights of Malta, she has made eight pilgrimages to Lourdes, France to care for the sick.

The Monan Professorship in Theatre Arts

The professorship was established in 2007 by a gift to Boston College in honor of University Chancellor and former BC President J. Donald Monan S.J. The position, which also commemorates the late University trustee and benefactor E. Paul Robsham, enables the Theatre Department to bring nationally and internationally known professional theater artists to Boston College to teach and work with undergraduate students. Miller is the tenth visiting Monan Professor in Theatre Arts, following Shakespeare expert and director Tina Packer, actor/playwright Robbie McCauley, director/designer David Gammons, director Paul Daigneault, Broadway music director Mary-Mitchell Campbell and others.