Thea Wigglesworth

Thea serves as our Civic Practice and Operations Manager. She is an educator, administrator, director, and designer. She works across the disciplines of theatre, opera, and dance to innovate both old and new works.

Born in Kentucky, Thea first began her arts career as a dancer with the School of the Lexington Ballet, and she still loves dancing in her free time. Upon graduating from Mount Holyoke College, with a BA in African and African American Studies, she worked in many Chicago theaters as an intern, stage manager, and properties designer. She moved to Boston to pursue directing and choreography in music theatre and opera. In 2014, Thea co-founded Cutout Theatre in New York City with her sister, Avery Wigglesworth. She serves as Producing Director for the small company, currently an informal think tank for new play development.

While receiving her MFA in Directing at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, where she studied transcultural music theatre, community action, and liminal space, Thea taught undergraduate students acting, directing, and stage craft. She managed the costume shop, served as the electrician Graduate Assistant, and was instrumental in transitioning from in-person to virtual performances during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also developed musical works in collaboration with Kimberlee Stone and the preschool class at Prince Kūhiō Elementary culminating in the virtual performance A Journey to Me: A Sea Dragon Adventure.

Thea still directs and designs in music theatre, most frequently in collaboration with the School of Music at Ohio University. She emphasizes the need to expand our audience by presenting opera as an art form that is both inclusive and captivating. She believes furthering marketing, development, and education around opera are central to establishing its longevity here in Steamboat Springs, CO. When she’s not in the office, you can find her hiking in the area or baking (altitude style) at her home in Hayden.