Kathy Kiser-Miller

Kathy is quick to recall her earliest and most impressionable experience in the arts.

“In elementary school, our school district had a program where students would be bussed to downtown Dayton, Ohio to see a performance.  Once a month we would see a ballet, opera, theater, or orchestra performance. I think the first opera I saw was Hansel and Gretel.”

Kathy has been a devotee of the arts all of her life and is a classically trained Shakespearean actor.

“I have a long history with the theater. I was in the company of Actor’s Theater in Louisville. And then I pursued an MFA at University of Wisconsin.”

Her thesis was the comparison of the acting techniques of American Playwright Eugene O’Neill with the Restoration Comedies of the 1700s in England.

“With O’Neill, the actor’s approach is internal, more psychological. With the Restoration Comedy it is more physical, or outward.”

Several years of acting followed her move to Denver. For example, “I played the leading role in The London Cuckholds by Edward Ravenscroft. It is very bawdy…I was ‘The Wit’!”

In addition to a busy acting career, Kathy began teaching acting at Regis University and discovered a new passion.  “After my twins were born, teaching seemed like a more sane lifestyle than acting.”

Kathy is recently retired as Vice President and Dean of Colorado Mountain College. She currently serves as a Peer Reviewer with the Higher Learning Commission.

She and husband, Dan, enjoy frequent visits to Denver for theater, music, and opera. They enjoy hiking and cross-country skiing. Kathy also enjoys cooking and spending time with their two sons and granddaughter.

What attracted her to Opera Steamboat? “‘I like all aspects of opera—the music, the set designs, the costumes, the talented singers/actors, and the staging/direction. I love and appreciate the convergence of all these art forms coming together in a live performance.”