Bio
Amy holds a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre from the University of Denver, a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Colorado Denver, and a PhD. in Theatre from the University of Colorado Boulder. Amy recently published her first monograph, Disney Theatrical Productions: Producing Broadway the Disney Way, which is available from Routledge. The book explores the production practices of the theatrical producing arm of the Walt Disney Corporation, dissecting how the theatre company functions as an independent producer under the umbrella of a multi-billion dollar entertainment corporation. In addition to her work on Disney Theatrical Productions, Amy’s research interests include contemporary theatre and musical theatre and its intersections with popular culture and digital media and digital theatrical technologies. Amy also has expertise and interest in American theatre, theatre history, acting, directing, and design. Amy has begun work on her second book, 20 Seasons: Broadway Musicals of the 21st Century, which will catalogue, categorize, and analyze Broadway musicals of the first twenty years of the twenty-first century.
In addition to her research, Amy has been teaching theatre since 2005. She is an Assistant Professor of Theatre in Directing at the University of Northern Iowa where she regularly teaches courses in directing, script analysis, dramaturgy, and musical theatre and directs productions in the department's season. She spent several years as the Education Programs Director for Inspire Creative, an arts organization in Parker, Colorado, where she developed a brand new theatre education program for students ages 5-18 in conjunction with the Town of Parker and the Parker Arts and Cultural Center. She has also taught children’s theatre for the Aurora Fox and the Colorado Shakespeare Festival.
From 2008-2013 Amy ran the nationally acclaimed drama program at Heritage High School in Littleton, Colorado. Under Amy’s direction, the department went from approximately fifty students to approximately two-hundred students. In Amy's time running the program, she produced five shows a season, and the program was named a BroadwayWorld.com School in the Spotlight. Amy’s former students went on to study performance, design, and technical theatre at some of the best theatre schools in the country and to work professionally all over the country including New York and Los Angeles.
In addition to her teaching and scholarship, Amy has been performing since she was five years old. The theatre bug bit her early when she played the Baker’s Wife in Stone Soup at the age of five. She also spent many years singing with the Colorado Children’s Chorale. some of Amy's recent roles include: Fastrada in Pippin and Mae in the Wild Party with Ignite Theatre, Ms. Andrew in Mary Poppins and Madame De La Grand Bouche in Beauty and the Beast with Inspire Creative and the PACE Center. Amy also co-created and performed in Anything You Can Do, I Can Do...? A Cabaret with colleague Jim Bray at UNI. The cabaret featured four UNI students and explored diversity and representation in musical theatre.
Amy is also an accomplished director. In August of 2012 she directed the Denver Regional Premiere of Spring Awakening the Musical at the Aurora Fox for Ignite Theatre. Her directing credits include: Oliver!, You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown, Once Upon A Mattress, Almost, Maine, Antigone, Xanadu the Musical, The Diary of Anne Frank, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and numerous others. In the summer of 2014 she co-directed the critically acclaimed production of RENT for Ignite with artistic director Keith Rabin Jr. and she directed the zany fall 2016 production of Singin' in the Rain, at the PACE Center in Parker, Colorado. She also directed the stunning production of The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds for the Department of Theatre and Dance at CU Boulder in 2015. Since joining the Department of Theatre at the University of Northern Iowa, Amy has directed Hair, Legacy of Light, and Cabaret. Amy also directed Theatre Cedar Rapids' Athletic 2019 production of Newsies.
Amy has also served as a designer for numerous productions. She is an experienced projection and sound designer and has also worked as a scenic, costume, and lighting designer. Amy has also worked as a music director and vocal coach.
In addition to her research, Amy has been teaching theatre since 2005. She is an Assistant Professor of Theatre in Directing at the University of Northern Iowa where she regularly teaches courses in directing, script analysis, dramaturgy, and musical theatre and directs productions in the department's season. She spent several years as the Education Programs Director for Inspire Creative, an arts organization in Parker, Colorado, where she developed a brand new theatre education program for students ages 5-18 in conjunction with the Town of Parker and the Parker Arts and Cultural Center. She has also taught children’s theatre for the Aurora Fox and the Colorado Shakespeare Festival.
From 2008-2013 Amy ran the nationally acclaimed drama program at Heritage High School in Littleton, Colorado. Under Amy’s direction, the department went from approximately fifty students to approximately two-hundred students. In Amy's time running the program, she produced five shows a season, and the program was named a BroadwayWorld.com School in the Spotlight. Amy’s former students went on to study performance, design, and technical theatre at some of the best theatre schools in the country and to work professionally all over the country including New York and Los Angeles.
In addition to her teaching and scholarship, Amy has been performing since she was five years old. The theatre bug bit her early when she played the Baker’s Wife in Stone Soup at the age of five. She also spent many years singing with the Colorado Children’s Chorale. some of Amy's recent roles include: Fastrada in Pippin and Mae in the Wild Party with Ignite Theatre, Ms. Andrew in Mary Poppins and Madame De La Grand Bouche in Beauty and the Beast with Inspire Creative and the PACE Center. Amy also co-created and performed in Anything You Can Do, I Can Do...? A Cabaret with colleague Jim Bray at UNI. The cabaret featured four UNI students and explored diversity and representation in musical theatre.
Amy is also an accomplished director. In August of 2012 she directed the Denver Regional Premiere of Spring Awakening the Musical at the Aurora Fox for Ignite Theatre. Her directing credits include: Oliver!, You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown, Once Upon A Mattress, Almost, Maine, Antigone, Xanadu the Musical, The Diary of Anne Frank, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and numerous others. In the summer of 2014 she co-directed the critically acclaimed production of RENT for Ignite with artistic director Keith Rabin Jr. and she directed the zany fall 2016 production of Singin' in the Rain, at the PACE Center in Parker, Colorado. She also directed the stunning production of The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds for the Department of Theatre and Dance at CU Boulder in 2015. Since joining the Department of Theatre at the University of Northern Iowa, Amy has directed Hair, Legacy of Light, and Cabaret. Amy also directed Theatre Cedar Rapids' Athletic 2019 production of Newsies.
Amy has also served as a designer for numerous productions. She is an experienced projection and sound designer and has also worked as a scenic, costume, and lighting designer. Amy has also worked as a music director and vocal coach.