Steven Miller has spent a good portion of the 2016-2017 season with us. We are so glad to have him back as Fiorello H. Laguardia in Fiorello!. Mr. Miller holds degrees in Comparative Literature from Dartmouth College and in English & Comparative Literature from Columbia University. Then, in a complete turnaround, he worked as a computer software programmer/analyst for NCR Corp. for 35 years. He is currently retired from his IT career and is working with Atlanta Theatre-to-Go as an actor, playwright, and stage manager. Throughout his entire career, he also managed to spend the last 40 years in community theatre in Ohio, South Carolina, and Georgia.
Q: Is this your first show at Live Arts, and what other shows have you done with us?
A: I appeared in Don’t Drink the Water (2011) and Secrets Every Smart Traveler Should Know (2012); recently in A Christmas Carol: A Radio Play and Stealing Home.
Q: What attracted you to audition for Fiorello!?
A: I’ve loved the score since I first heard it and loved the show since I first saw it at
Steven Miller in Stealing Home
Emerson College in Boston in 1969. I tried out last fall for the whole Live Arts season and was offered the role of Fiorello then.
Q: Name two fun facts about you:
A: 1. I’m the 2015/6 Metropolitan Atlanta Theatre Award for best original work, for the comedy thriller Chestnut Bluff, performed by Broadway Bound Productions, Inc. in Canton, Georgia. 2. I hold a patent for “System and Methods for Mapping and Conveying Product Location.”
Q: What musical would you most like to be in?
A: My Fair Lady. I was cast as Henry Higgins in a production in Dayton, Ohio, but had to decline due to my pending move to Atlanta in 1989.
Q: Fiorello! is based on a true story of an honest politician taking on a corrupt establishment. How does this resonate with you as you prepare for this show?
A: There might be a superficial resemblance to the idea of “draining the swamp,” but in LaGuardia’s day and place, there was actual corruption and graft that needed to be stamped out, not just bureaucratic inertia and self-interested politicians. LaGuardia’s pro-union and pro-draft stances might seem to be outmoded in present-day Georgia, but they were principled stands that made sense in his time.
We are looking forward to seeing Steven Miller in Fiorello! The show runs weekends, from July 14 to July 29. Get your tickets now. We are still operating out of the Belfry Playhouse (inside Norcross Presbyterian Church), but Fiorello! will be performed in the sanctuary, just inside the front door. The address is 3324 Medlock Bridge Rd Norcross, GA 30092.