she/her/hers || theatre creative & teaching artist
Artist Bio
Katy Kepler (she/her/hers) is a theater maker and teaching artist with a focus in directing, devising, performing, and stage management. She received her B.S. in Theatre from the College at Brockport. She has worked and volunteered with many organizations in Nebraska and New York in a variety of artistic capacities, including the Omaha Theater Company (The Rose), Omaha Performing Arts, the Omaha Community Playhouse, The Apollon, BLUEBARN, Nebraska Shakespeare, the Circle Theater, the Papillion-LaVista Community Theater, Bellevue Little Theater, Geva Theater Center, Bristol Valley Theater, the Rochester Children's Theater, Blackfriars, and the Rochester Fringe Festival. She also works with Omaha Girls Rock as an after-school instructor teaching about advocacy, music, and how to play the ukulele.
Katy has dedicated much of her career to working with youth. Past TVY and TYA performance credits include Prancer (world premiere), Stellaluna and Other Tales, Elephant and Piggie’s We Are In a Play, You and Me and the Land of Peas, Music Makers, Mouse on the Move, and Palette of Possibility (world premiere), all with The Rose Theater, as well as The Velveteen Rabbit with the Rochester Children’s Theater. She also directed and co-wrote Farmer Brown, produced at The Rose. Katy has worked extensively with youth both as a creative drama teacher and director. At Bristol Valley Theater, she spearheaded the creation of the annual sketch comedy show, Saturday Afternoon LIVE!, devised and written by teens, along with a sight-specific piece created in collaboration with the Cummings Nature Center. She has also spent a wealth of time in the classroom as a teaching artist working with students ages 3-18, including students with exceptionalities. She has also had the sincerest pleasure to teach in the heart of the Omaha community with organizations like Girls, Inc, NorthStar, and Completely Kids.
Past stage management credits include non-equity ASM work for the LORT B Geva Theater (The Odd Couple, The Mountaintop, Women in Jeopardy!, 44 Plays for 44 Presidents) and PSM work with Bristol Valley Theater (boom, To Kill a Mockingbird) and the Rochester Children’s Theatre (Seussical, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, Honk!). Katy also worked directly alongside the General Manager of the Rochester Fringe Festival for two years and assisted with the mounting of a 10-day-long arts festival celebrating both local and international artists. Additionally, Katy has served as a key volunteer for MAHA for four years running.
In her spare time, Katy can be found playing the ukulele, drawing, and streaming video games. You can find her on instagram @katy.kepler and on twitch as CaptHIGHFIVE.