Jamie McKittrick
Get to know Metro Theater Company’s Creative Arts Camp teaching artist Jamie McKittrick! Jamie will primarily be working with 1st-5th grade students during the August 1-5 summer camp session.
Jamie is an interdisciplinary artist and teacher who’s worn many hats in theatre. She’s an Associate Artist at Metro Theater Company where she’s directed, choreographed, or performed in the productions Jacked!, The Girl Who Swallowed a Cactus, The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show, Frida Libre, Wonderland: Alice’s Rock & Roll Adventure, and Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates. Notable original and collaboratively created work includes Sparkle- TA DAAA!!! (Critic’s Choice Award winner of the St. Louis Fringe Festival), SURVIVE! (“Best of the Year”- Philadelphia Weekly), and Lady M with Swim Pony Performing Arts, and international symphony tours of Scheherazade and Ma Mère L’Oye with Enchantment Theatre Company. She’s currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Theatre at Muhlenberg College, and has enjoyed teaching at Webster University’s Conservatory of the Arts, Lindenwood University, and UMSL. Jamie’s about to begin her first year as the coordinator for the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC) Directing Initiative for The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) Region 2.
We asked Jamie a few questions about theater, teaching young people, snacks, books, pets, and more!
If you could have any pet in the world, what would it be and why?
Okay—so I definitely have the pet that I would want the most—my most excellent pup, Gypsy Rose Lee. However, if I had to go with another, I think it would be a porcupine that wouldn't shoot its quills at me. They're so cute and the way that they chatter and "talk" when they're happy is very cute.
What do you enjoy about teaching young people?
I enjoy so many things about teaching young people! I think what I enjoy the most, though, is getting inspired by the limitless imaginations young people have. The possibilities are limitless, and I get to be lucky enough to hang with them in that space of infinite possibility.
What is your favorite snack food?
I absolutely LOVE Harvest Cheddar Sun Chips. I always have that in my pantry. And can ice cream be a snack...?
What do you love about theater?
I love that theatre gets a group of people together—onstage, backstage, in the audience, in the lobby—who don't all know one another and we get to make something happen that has never happened before and will never happen again. It's really magical that we all decide to come together and believe whatever story we're telling and experience the emotions we're feeling in the same space.
What is one of your favorite children's books?
I'm currently loving A Bilingual Tale of the Imaginary Creature Known as.... El Chupacabras by Adam Rubin and Crash McCreery. It's been a definite hit with my nephews, too.
What are you most looking forward to at Metro Theater Company summer camp?
Meeting all of the campers! I can't wait to meet all of the imaginative and extraordinary young people I'm going to have the honor of making art with.
