ABOUT JASON
Jason Paul Smith started his career as actor, director, producer in 1980 having created the stage version of The Muppet Movie. Running 37 performances, it was witness by 39 stuffed animals, two adults, and one angry pre-teen.
This memorable performance spawned an early career in the theater that included performances in every local theater, that means one, in Valley City, North Dakota. This eventually led him to earn a degree in Theater from the University of Minnesota.
His theater career has included a wide array of opportunities including, Barnaby Tucker in The Matchmaker, Frank ‘n Furter in The Rocky Horror Show, and Flan Kitridge in Six Degrees of Separation. He also wrote, directed and starred in Consulting Mavis or How I Got My Ass Out of North Dakota and Remained Sane. Directing credits include Hello Dolly for the Lakeshore Players and Sunday in the Park with George for Crisis Point Theater.
Smith decided to land a job in corporate America. Working in the Marketing departments of three major corporations in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he learned important marketing strategies and skills, from packaging and branding to marketing campaign strategy and event planning.
Smith currently resides in Chicago, where he is at work on several other projects including a documentary film and a re-envisioning of the Greek play, "Medea". He is the co-founder of Three Cat Media. He was recently awarded a 2009 Ragdale Residency.
Trivial facts:
Jason played Abe Lincoln in the third grade play.
He starred in his first film at the age ten, playing Captain Jason in Bill Hunt’s infamous production of the Attack of the Zevons.
He was discovered by KOVC Radio – the same station that discovered Shadow Stevens and Peggy Lee.
His brother is the editor of The Digital Bits.
His favorite food is peanut butter.
Please click here, to download a headshot and resume.
Artist’s Statement
Born in small-town North Dakota, I realized I was different from a very young age. Since my first exploration into art and performance, my passion has been to celebrate that individual spirit or that difference, and to understand my connection to a “global” world. My first opportunity to explore this topic was as director of Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George. We experimented with the possibilities of art and time to understand the classic artist struggle of the blank canvas.
My work continued in this avenue through several performance opportunities both as a collaborator and as an individual artist leading to the creation of my one-man show “Consulting Mavis: Or How I Got Out of North Dakota and Remained Sane.” This production used music, film, and theatrical tools to tell the multi-generational stories of my Grandmother, my Mother, and me. This show examines the patterns of family and the need for each of us to learn a new way to live.
Currently, my mission is to tell the untold story, and to foster the development of other artists with the same mission. In 2007, I created Three Cat Thursdays. Three Cat Thursdays is dedicated to “revolutionizing the world of independent artists” by providing performers and artists from various disciplines a place to come together and workshop new material. Three Cat Thursdays is returning in March of 2009 as Three Cat Productions Late Night Cabaret Series.