Sneaky Cat Acting Academy

Michael has been teaching children theater/coaching & acting since 2000. As you can imagine, his approach to children’s drama coaching is underpinned by his four decades of experience in theater – writing, acting, stage managing, tech and directing – as well as the fact that he is truly a child at heart and able to intuitively connect to kids with his offbeat humor and endless buckets of energy.

He can also relate to young actors: he lived theater as a kid. He got his first lead role in 7th grade, performed 12 different plays in high school, and acted in over 20 productions in college, directing several others.

After earning a BFA (Theatre Concentration) from Western Illinois University, Michael moved to Seattle where he got involved with the fringe theatre in the late 90’s, acting and stage managing. In 1998, Michael became the first stage manager for Annex Theatre’s Spin The Bottle (ongoing since 1998), curated by Bret Fetzer.

Michael then left Seattle in 2000 – 2004 and toured Continental US, Canada, Japan, Guam, Alaska and South Korea with Missoula Children’s Theatre’s renowned training program, teaching 15,000 students over 4 years.

Returning to Seattle in 2004, Michael eventually wound up working at Stone Soup Theatre 2006, wearing many, many hats. Hired as Director of Education, Michael helped convert Stone Soup into a 501c(3) non-profit theatre. As the summer camp director, Michael oversaw every aspect of the summer, 18 camps stuffed into 12 weeks, containing 12-15 teachers with several hundred kids. Michael bolstered up their drama programs, created classes, assemblies, and hired teachers.

Working as administrative assistant to the Artistic Director, Maureen Miko, Michael handled day-to-day operations for the theatre and was responsible for marketing shows & drama programs.

He was the curator for the yearly One-Act Playwrights Festivals, where he read, selected and produced over 40 plays at SST from 2008 – 2010, directing one that won the FESTIVAL FAVORITE in 2009. Michael acted in a handful of the 24 shows he helped produce at Stone Soup Theatre from 2006-2010.

In April 2010, Michael opened Y.E.S at Theatre9/12., a non-profit acting school for youth. He taught drama classes and Summer Camps for advanced performers and managed a staff of teachers who do drama outreach in public and private schools all over Seattle.

Michael also been providing individual tutoring (in-person and via Zoom) in many creative disciplines the past 8 years. Y.E.S. has been going strong for over 10 years and has changed the lives of hundreds of talented kids all over Seattle.

From 2010 to 2022, Michael worked as Production Manager for Theatre9/12, working for Artistic Director Charles Waxberg. For 19 productions, he ran the ship: hiring production designers, creating rehearsal and production schedules and working closely with the outstanding Producer Paul O’Connell. He developed deep expertise in building & painting sets, hanging cables & lights, scrounging for props, maintaining the performance spaces/stage/inventory, getting designers access to space or production staff, maintaining light inventory, working lines with actors, and costume laundry. One of his most proudest accomplishments was making review-worthy cookies for concessions. His specialty is Italian biscotti drenched in fudge.

In 2022, Michael founded the Sneaky Cat Acting Academy to more fully encompass his work in supporting the creative lives of youth.