You may not have seen her handcuffed to a window or belting out "What I Did for Love," but Leah Miller nevertheless maintains an enormous presence in theater on campus. Miller, a senior Writing Seminars major, is head of the Barnstormers for the second year in a row. In addition, she is a member of the Arts Certificate Committee and the Homewood Task Force, a group that focuses on improving arts on campus. Her first involvement with the Barnstormers came freshman year when she played Janis Joplin in the play Gadzooks and Ophelia for the Freshman One Acts.
Desperate for a second stage manager, Barnstormers let her assume the position for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? her freshman year. Before she came to Hopkins, she performed in high school musicals and chorus. However, she liked stage managing so much that she decided to stick with it over acting. "I like to be in control of everything and to be the person everyone goes to when they have a problem," Miller said.
Last fall, she co-directed, along with Jen Horwat, Words Words Words, one of her favorite Barnstormer experiences. It was a Freshman One Act about three monkeys left with typewriters for a science experiment to see whether they can reproduce Hamlet. To help prepare for the play, Miller took her cast to the Baltimore Zoo, where they spent copious amounts of time observing monkeys. "The caretaker was confused about why we were standing there for so long. We told her and she suggested we perform the play for her and the monkeys. Afterwards she gave us some tips."
Now Miller organizes fundraising and room scheduling, in addition to stage managing and directing. She also hires professionals from New York City to direct every main stage. Scheduling is one challenge she faces because both Barnstormers and Witness produce around three shows each semester. "We do compete, but more for an audience and cast members than anything else. We have a fairly good relationship," said Miller. Money is also a constant roadblock for the Barnstormers, restricting the quality, number and non-production side of shows.
Another limitation is the apathy towards theater among students. "This isn't the most theater-friendly campus. Lots of people just don't care or aren't interested in theater, which makes it difficult to do experimental shows." Plays are chosen through a process that starts with a General Assembly meeting and ends with the board finalizing the decision. "The main things we consider when choosing a show are the set, gender breakdown, and feasibility." Miller said her vision for Barnstormers has mostly been realized. "I want to maintain the quality of production and dedicated people we have."
Her future plans are to work for Oxford Press, where she interned this summer. "I always want to keep theater in my life," she noted. "All plays are about human interaction and how different people can handle or not handle different situations. There is no role that isn't a test of the human spirit. Live theater is not something so manipulated and altered that we can't even recognize it as real life. There's a very emotional connection that I don't think you get anywhere else." This semester, you can see her perform in Blithe Spirit Oct. 28-31 and Nov. 5-7.
