Michael Miller
CEO & Executive Producer

Mr. Miller began his career in the entertainment industry over 30 years ago as a partner in a Northern California nightclub. After 7 years of touring as a sound designer, road manager and booking agent for music groups and theatrical acts, he went on to form his own production company.

As Executive Producer and President of Spotlight Entertainment Inc., he developed shows for Holland America Cruise Line and corporate events locally and internationally. In 1995, Michael joined the American Musical Theatre of San Jose (AMTSJ) team as Production Manager. In 1998, Michael enjoyed 4 seasons as Director of Production at Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey. He returned to AMTSJ in 2002 as Director of Production and General Manager of Miss Saigon, a co-production he coordinated with Paper Mill Playhouse and Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera. In 2004, Michael General Managed Dreamgirls, a co-production alliance with 5th Ave Theatre in Seattle and California Music Theatre in Sacramento.

Michael has general managed numerous co-productions including: Miss Saigon, Art (Directed by and starring Judd Hirsh), The Dinner Party, A Chorus Line (tour), Rags, Joseph (National tour), Deathtrap, I'm Not Rappaport (Broadway with Judd Hirsch and Ben Vereen). Michael also managed the national televised (PBS) version of Crazy for You, with Susan Stroman and Jimmy Brennan.

Since assuming the role of CEO & Executive Producer at AMTSJ in May 2004, Michael is delighted to announce the achievement of the company's subscription goal, reversing a seven-year decline. His future commitment is to remain focused on producing shows and nurturing AMTSJ’s community Education & Outreach programs, always with an eye on maintaining fiscal responsibility.

Michael serves as Chair of the Arts Board of Team San Jose, Chair of the San Jose Theatre Preservation, sits on the University of Santa Clara Arts Advancement Board, is a member of The San Jose Arts Round Table, First Act, Independent Presenters Network, National Alliance of Musical Theatre and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, cycling for the cure.

Bob Nazarenus
Chief Financial Officer

Robert Nazarenus joined AMTSJ in November of 2003 as its Chief Financial Officer with 32 years of experience in similar positions from various industries. Prior Mr. Nazarenus was the CFO of Auto Town for over five years; a provider of CRM and DMS software sold to the leading consolidators of retail franchise automobile dealerships nationwide.

For eight years prior Mr. Nazarenus was a founder and CFO of both Frox and New Media Ware, later sold to Harman International and Intel, the first companies to combined consumer electronic equipment with the personal computer to create home theatre and TV Guide online. In 1986, Mr. Nazarenus joined Meridian Ocean Systems as its General Manager, which sold software and ultrasonic equipment to domestic and foreign governments used to navigate sensitive harbors to locate mines and listening devices placed there by threatening governments. Prior Mr. Nazarenus was a founder and CFO and later the President & CEO his last two years for Systel Computers, a leader in word processing hardware and software. There he established manufacturing operations in Puerto Rico, purchasing in Singapore, and distribution domestically and in Western Europe and Asia. After eight years as a founder and CFO of Bio-Mation, manufacture of logic analyzers, and waveform recorders, Mr. Nazarenus sold the company to Gould, Inc. located in Chicago, when he became the CFO of the Electronics Division worldwide. After graduating from San Jose State University with a BA in Accounting, Mr. Nazarenus joined Arthur Andersen & Co. where he obtained his CPA certification.

Bob Bones
Director of Production

Bob began his professional theatre career 25 years ago. He has been with AMTSJ for the past 17. Three years ago, when Michael Miller took over as Executive Producer, Bob moved into the position of Production Manager and as of January 2007, Director of Production, where he is responsible for overseeing all aspects of each production.  

Bob has stage managed over 50 productions with AMTSJ and over 100 productions in his career, including the West Coast Tour of Dreamgirls. Before coming to San Jose and right after graduation from Wittenberg University in Ohio, Bob was working in Houston at The Alley Theatre where he became an assistant stage manager and a member of Actor’s Equity Association. A few years later, he was hired as a stage manager at Theatre Under the Stars, where he first met Dianna Schuster (previous Artistic Director for AMTSJ), when she directed Evita for them. 

Bob began his move west stage managing several summers for Music Circus, in Sacramento before being hired by Schuster for AMTSJ. In 1995, Bob took a leave of absence to stage manager the first national tour of the critically acclaimed play Angels in America. He then returned 2 weeks before he and his wife Maria’s first daughter, Madeline, was born (Opening of Once on this Island, which Bob thankfully did not stage manage). Taylor, their second daughter was born 1 week before he opened Hot Mikado.  Bob and Michael had the chance to work together for one season before Michael went onto Paper Mill Playhouse in 1997. They are very happy now for this opportunity to work together again. 

Bob teaches stage management at San Jose State University and Foothill College as well as teaching for the Theatre Arts Conservatory here at AMTSJ. He has also been a guest lecturer at San Francisco State University. Bob is a contributing writer for the book, “Stage Management,” by Lawrence Stern. 

Nancy Marino
Director of Marketing

A dynamic marketing and event planning professional with more than fifteen years experience building and leading integrated campaigns for the entertainment and lifestyle industries, Nancy has successfully developed and nurtured media relations for one of the largest regional theatres in the country, Paper Mill Playhouse.

Having attended Rutgers University as a theatre/communications major, Nancy attended the Katharine Gibbs School and graduated with honors in 1983. After working for 10 years in the corporate arena, while trying to pursue a professional acting career, Nancy arrived at Paper Mill in the fall of 1993.

At Paper Mill, Nancy was responsible for every marketing piece (over 100 per year) as well as over $300,000 in print advertising per year. She was instrumental in stopping an eight-year subscription decline and increasing single ticket sales through targeted niche marketing, farming efforts, record-breaking direct sales telephone campaigns, and the introduction of diverse subscription and membership packages. In addition, Ms. Marino was instrumental in developing corporate sponsorships with several newspapers and magazines, which garnered Paper Mill an additional $750,000 in revenue and $400,000 in media benefits. Nancy was responsible for widening the scope of press relations to include national exposure and developed a subscriber incentive program that resulted in over 25,000 renewing subscribers, 800 higher than the prior season.

Following her success at Paper Mill, Nancy was a private marketing and special events consultant for a variety of arts organizations including the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and the New Jersey Theatre Alliance. In November 2003, Nancy began working with Actors Theatre of Phoenix as their Director of Special Events for the fundraiser, Noches de Fuego (Nights of Fire) a gala benefit to support their student outreach, education and artistic initiatives. She created a seamless event for over 400 people. It was their most successful event to date that raised funds in excess of $120,000.

Since 1998, Nancy has worked as a freelance event planner and has organized hundreds of participants for events ranging in size from 50-3,000. Some of those clients include General Motors, SmithKline Beacham, and Paramount Pictures. She has also been a freelance consultant with Grey Entertainment and Tobak/Dantchik, both in New York City, and has assisted them on many Broadway opening night parties as well as the 2004 Tony Awards Gala.

In October 2004, she began her tenure with American Musical Theatre of San Jose as their Associate Director of Marketing and Development and was promoted in December 2006 to Director of Marketing. Her area of expertise lies in theatrical marketing, event & meeting planning, project management and media buying. Nancy brings to AMTSJ a love and passion for theatre and believes that art really does make a difference.

Nancy has expanded horizons in the theatre world and is currently an investor in the Broadway smash-hit musical comedy The Drowsy Chaperone.

Amy Peabody
Director of Development

Amy brings to AMT a commitment to building relationships with people who share our passion for the arts. Her love for musical theatre began at the age of 6 when her mom took her to see Annie in San Francisco. Their drives to the City became trips to New York and London to see the original productions of The Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon, Into the Woods, The Secret Garden, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and The Drowsy Chaperone to name a few. Her travels not only gave her exposure to outstanding theatre, but also ignited an enthusiasm for new cultures, which has taken her to four continents and more than 30 countries.

After graduating from the University of San Diego with a B.A. in International Relations & Business with a focus on Asia, Amy moved to Hong Kong and joined the team at Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Really Useful Group. Excelling in corporate and group ticket bookings for the first Asia Tour of The Phantom of the Opera, she not only sold thousands of tickets, but was present for the historical handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom back to China on July 1, 1997.

Upon returning home to the Bay Area, Amy worked with The Gap’s International Division in Training and Development where she developed multi-lingual materials and learned “the art” of translation and communication. While serving an employee base of 500+ around the world, her path crossed once again with the performing arts. TheatreWorks, a professional not-for-profit arts organization dedicated to producing musical theatre, was expanding their fundraising team.

Amy began her tenure with TheatreWorks as the Associate Director for Individual Giving in 2001. During her 6 years with the company, the budget grew from a $3M to $6.4M and she doubled The Inner Circle (major donor group) from 136 to 280 donors. Amy also increased the percentage of subscribers who give from 30% to 40%, a higher percentage than practically every other theatre in the nation. The key to her success has been a strong dedication to stewardship and connecting donors to the productions and programs they love.

Amy is a member of the Association for Fundraising Professionals, the Arts Development Roundtable and a graduate of The Fundraising School. She is married to Dr. Brent Ingram and lives in Santa Clara where she enjoys painting watercolors, playing tennis and learning the game of golf.

D.J. Zwicker-Sobrepeña
Director of Education & Outreach

Debra Jean (D.J.) comes to AMTSJ with over 13 years experience as an educator teaching Theatre and English and a performer. She graduated from Indiana University in Bloomington with a Bachelor’s in English, a Bachelor’s in Theatre & Drama, and a secondary teaching certificate. She began her teaching career at Lincoln Middle School in Schiller Park, Illinois as the Drama Teacher, while also acting in the Chicago theatre scene. She moved on to teach grades 9-12 at Ridgewood High School in Norridge, where she taught English and Theatre.

Her quest for knowledge, cultural experiences, and warm winters, led her to Honolulu where she earned an M.F.A. in Youth Theatre from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. While there, D.J. was a recipient of the John Young Arts Scholarship, Wayne Hayashi Scholarship, and Regent’s Tuition Waiver. She was actively involved with campus life as the President of the Student Organization of Theatre & Dance, the graduate student liaison between faculty and students for the Theatre and Dance Department, and graduate student representative for the UH Commission on the Status of Women. She directed the successful, peer-educational drama Unspeakable Acts while working as the Program Assistant for the Gender Equity Office. Highlights of her performance training include: Jingju, Indonesian Randai, Wayang Topeng, Hula, and Commedia dell’ Arte.

Beyond the classroom, she has been a drama instructor and director for Solano Youth Theatre, Honolulu Theatre for Youth, DramaCrew, Summer Stars Kreative Kids Camp, and program coordinator using drama for peer health education. She has also presented workshops: “Reading Aloud To Children” in Honolulu (2001), and “Practical Uses of Asian Shadow Puppetry in Children’s Theatre” with Natalie McKinney, at the American Alliance for Theatre and Education Conference (2002).

Since August 2003, D.J. moved to California and taught English and Theatre at Vanden High School in Fairfield; where she continued to design and implement highly effective lesson plans for multi-cultural curricula that met state and district standards. She successfully produced six Drama Club shows per year including the musicals: Once Upon a Mattress, Quilters, and Friday Knight Fever.

She maintains a passionate commitment to education & theatre.