Glancing in surprise at the person who he expected to win, Bryce Miller, hall monitor, dropped his phone on the way up to the stage to accept his reward for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy on Monday, March 23, at the St. Louis Theater Circle Awards.
“I wasn’t expecting it at all,” Miller said. “There were really good people in my category who I had seen perform, and I thought there were no chances I was going to win.”
Miller won the award for playing Dr. Watson in the New Jewish Theatre’s production of “Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery” last fall. Miller said the show focuses on Watson’s investigations about a curse while Sherlock is away.
The role was physically demanding, making Miller work harder to perfect it after doing three shows before his award-winning show.
“It was making sure my stamina was there to be speaking for two straight hours with no chance to get water, I was doing a lot of really physical stuff with acrobatics, running around and costume changes,” Miller said.
Miller auditioned for the role at a general audition during January 2025 by performing two monologues. He got a callback in February, running through lines and monologues for four hours to prepare.
“I was called in for a different character, then halfway through callbacks they said they wanted to see me for Watson,” Miller said. “I assumed I didn’t get it since it took me three weeks to hear back if I was in the show or not.”
Miller realized during sophomore year of high school that he wanted to pursue acting professionally. He gained experience in roles from community theaters and Rockwood Summit High School. Senior year, Miller auditioned for college programs and was accepted by Webster University.
Miller has now started rehearsals for another show, “Prayer for the French Republic,” which will run late April to May at the New Jewish Theatre. Miller will resign from MHS on April 10 to begin his rehearsals for the musical “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”
“I’ll really miss all the connections I’ve made with students over the years,” Miller said. “All the ‘good mornings,’ and fist bumps I get in the hallway make my day.”
Miller worked with the Marquette Theater Company (MTC) for two shows: “Peter and the Starcatcher” in 2024 and “The Drowsy Chaperone” in 2025. Miller helped both actors and crew members with stress, lines and tasks.
“He just made the general mood backstage better, especially when people were stressed out and comforted them, he’d remind us everything was going to work out,” Bailey said.
Maddie Bailey, junior, has been in MTC for her entire high school career. She said she was glad she got a chance to work with Miller.
“He was just really helpful, and he bridged the gap of communications between the cast and the crew,” Bailey said. “He went back and forth to make sure everything was running smoothly, and was just there to help.”
Bailey said Miller is an extremely hard-working person, and she is excited that he won an award for his work.
Olivia Ellington, junior, also worked with Miller in MTC productions. Ellington said Miller gave great advice and was a voice of reason due to his own experiences in theater.
“It’s nice to have someone with our director who can offer different perspectives on a show, and ways to critique our performance to be better actors,” Ellington said.
