C J Miller
Often we forget that in order for a play to be successful on stage, for everything to mesh so perfectly that the audience can immerse themselves into the world on stage, there has to be a group of people working seamlessly behind the stage. CJ Miller is one of those people.
CJ began acting in second grade and was in professional theaters by the third grade. In high school, stage management came to the fore.
“After my earlier years of high school, I lost interest in performing because I was more drawn to the backstage areas of theater. I decided to go to college for technical theater, after a director told me that I had good instincts. I didn’t really have an extended knowledge of how many jobs there are backstage until my first year of college at Emory & Henry. I prefer the construction of sets, and I’ve taken an interest in rigging for the theater because I like the more hands-on jobs backstage,” CJ says.
CJ credits Emory & Henry College’s Kevin Dudley, design and production professor, and Will Hankins, McGlothin Center for the Arts’ technical director, as mentors. “They both have taught me so much in the past year and have given me so much room to grow and improve. They inspire me each day to keep going and to keep working hard.”
Not surprisingly, CJ prefers not to be in the spotlight.
“When I did perform, I really just liked being a part of the ensemble. Ensemble numbers were always my favorites. My favorite musical varies from day to day, but it’s probably ‘The Drowsy Chaperone,’ which I stage managed in high school my junior year; it was my first technical theater experience and holds a special place in my heart.
“Theater really means the world to me. I think theater means so much to me because everyone works together to put on amazing shows, hoping that we can touch the lives of the audience members who come see our hard work. If we can move just one audience member, I think it makes all that hard work worth it.
“I definitely prefer working on musical theater. It’s just what I grew up doing, and it’s what I like to watch more than plays (if I ever get a chance to watch it instead of work it). I also love to dance, so watching people dance on stage while performing and singing makes me love musical theater that much more,” CJ says.
CJ is behind stage this summer in Missouri. “I am working at Ozark Actors Theatre in Rolla, Missouri, for the summer, and I am a production intern. Being a production intern means that I get to help out wherever they need someone, whether that be building or painting sets, hanging lighting equipment, operating spotlights during a show, running the sound board or anything else that they might need. This job has given me plenty of amazing learning opportunities and is perfect for someone who’s still got a lot to learn,” CJ says.
CJ plans to finish a BFA in theatrical design and production at Emory & Henry and then go to graduate school for a MFA in technical direction. The child of Amanda Miller, CJ is from Abingdon, Virginia, and is a rising sophomore at Emory & Henry College, Emory, Virginia.
