Company Spotlight: Kaitlin Mills and Aaron Stephenson
Kaitlin Mills, Actor
Have you ever worked at the Festival before? If so, for how many years and in what roles/capacity?
Yes! This is my third summer season as a member of the acting company.
Where’s your home base?
Currently it’s Pittsburgh, PA.
What’s your education/training background?
I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Classical Acting from Southern Utah University.
What brought you to your field and what keeps you doing your craft?
I first knew I wanted to act when the USF tour came to my high school. Now, what drives me to keep up the work is the connection made with the audience. It’s a connection that you don’t really get from any other art form, and when it does happen it’s magic.
How will you spend your time off while here?
Probably eating at all my favorite restaurants in town! I also love the outdoors, so I’ll try to get some good hiking in.
What does the Festival Experience mean to you?
The Festival Experience for me has to do with making those connections with the patrons. Here, unlike anywhere else I’ve worked, you have so many opportunities to meet the people who come see the shows. There are workshops and talkbacks and so much more. You really get to see, firsthand, the impact the work has.
Do you have a favorite memory of working in the Adams Theatre?
There are so many to choose from! I grew up loving this theatre, so if I have to choose, it would be working on it professionally for the first time in The Tempest.
If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
I would like to be able to change my appearance at will. It would be really helpful as an actor!
If you had a time machine, where would you like to visit?
I would love to see a Shakespeare play performed in his time!
Aaron Stephenson, Lead Audio Engineer
Have you ever worked at the Festival before? If so, for how many years and in what roles/capacity?
This is my first year at the festival, and first time in Utah.
Where’s your home base?
312, The Windy City.
What’s your education/training background?
I studied performance at Nebraska Wesleyan, and later completed the sound engineering apprenticeship with Steppenwolf Theatre Company.
What brought you to your field and what keeps you doing your craft?
I came for the music and stayed for the storytelling. I love how flexible sound can be. It is both passive and active, as we create moods and atmospheres, as well as help inform the inner lives of the actors, and often represent unseen characters in the world of the show.
How will you spend your time off while here?
I want to hike, explore, find concerts and friends, and hopefully bring a little bit of Chicago to the Cedar City life.
What does the Festival Experience mean to you?
I like theatre that is an immersive experience. The wide spectrum of work combined with the green show and high level of community involvement represents a commitment to the art form that inspires and invigorates me as an artist.
If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
I would love to be able to teleport, as well as be impervious to temperature/weather. I love to travel and that would allow me to go EVERYWHERE.
If you had a time machine, where would you like to visit?
I think I would visit my parents when they were my age, so that we could better understand each other’s joys and challenges.
