About Miranda
...mother, wife, scuba diver, actor, banjo picker, educator, dialect-coach, foodie, opera lover, ex-sommelier, gardener, adventurer...
Originally from Greenville, SC., Miranda is an actor, dialect/acting coach, director, and adjunct professor of theatre at The South Carolina School of the Arts at Anderson University. Miranda studied voice performance at Florida State University, choral conducting at Furman University, and received an MFA in Acting from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She is a proud member of Actors' Equity Association.
While she has travelled far and wide, the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains have always beckoned, and now she and her husband Aaron Brakefield, are raising their son, Wilkes, in the home acquired by Miranda's great grandparents in 1936. Wilkes is the fifth generation to live on that land.
Miranda first stepped on stage as a classical singer aiming for a career in opera. But before transitioning to a full-time career in acting, Miranda was also a sommelier at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, a licensed Realtor, and dabbled in hypnotherapy and energy healing for performing artists.
"a few of my favorite things:
jewel tones
Northern Thai Khao Soi
my father's letter to me on my 20th birthday
pugs and other flat-faced animals
my son's funny faces
Verdi's Don Carlo
diving at Wakatobi in Indonesia
the symphony of crickets and frogs on a Southern summer night
The Punch Brothers
cheese
lineage.legacy.love"
Miranda
Barnett
AEA
THEATRE
The Heath January '20
Cry It Out April '19
The Heath (World Premiere) Feb '19
Clybourne Park
Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike
The Rocky Horror Show
Boeing Boeing
Richard III
Cabaret
Metamorphoses
Lamplight and Shadow
Screwtape
Steel Magnolias
A Christmas Carol
My Fair Lady
Tennessee Playboy
God of Carnage
Judith of Bethulia
Twelfth Night
A Flea In Her Ear
Sweeney Todd
Whose Wives Are They Anyway?
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
The Bungler
Hot 'n Throbbing
Quake
Lauren
Adrienne
Lauren
Bev / Kathy
La Marquise de Merteuil
Masha
Magenta
Gabriella
Catesby
Fräulein Kost, Helga
Therapist, Nursemaid, others
Elizabeth Poe, Blackbird, others
Queenie
Truvy
Mrs. Cratchit, Ensemble
Lady Boxington, Mrs. Hopkins
Widow Quince U/S
Veronica Novak
Arga
Olivia
Raymonde Chandebise
Beggar Woman / Lucy
Karly McGachen
Lenore, Ensemble
The Storyteller
Mascarille
Charlene
That Woman
The Warehouse Theatre
The Warehouse Theatre
Merrimack Repertory Theatre
The Warehouse Theatre
The Warehouse Theatre
The Warehouse Theatre
The Warehouse Theatre
The Warehouse Theatre
The Warehouse Theatre
The Warehouse Theatre
The Warehouse Theatre
The Warehouse Theatre
The Warehouse Theatre
Clinton Area Showboat Theatre
Triad Stage
Triad Stage
Triad Stage
Triad Stage/THTR 232
Triad Stage THTR 232
Distracted Globe
Centre Stage
Centre Stage
Centre Stage
Centre Stage
UNCG Theatre
UNCG Theatre
UNCG Theatre
UNCG Theatre
Sean Daniels
Rebekah Suellau
Sean Daniels
Jay Briggs
Matthew Earnest
Mark Waldrop
Richard St. Peter
Anne Tromsness
Alexander Greenfield
Shannon Robert
Shannon Robert
Paul Savas
Paul Savas
Kristy Cates
Bryan Conger
Bryan Conger
Preston Lane
Matthew Teague Miller
Danille Keil
Jerrold Scott
Richard St. Peter
David Sims
Glenda Manwaring
Glenda Manwaring
Jim Wren
Matthew Teague Miller
Matthew Teague Miller
Danielle Keil
FILM
Exeter
Alms
Rise Above the Fall (music video)
36 Hours
The Devil's Game
Another Day
Supporting
Supporting
Lead
Lead
Supporting
Supporting
Elsewhere Station
Elsewhere Station
Big Merlin Productions
UNCG Campus Movie Fest
The University of North Carolina School of the Arts
UNCSA
Cameron Cook
Cameron Cook
Adam Wagner
Devin Miller
Chelsey Cummings
Adam Witmer
TRAINING
Master of Fine Arts in Acting: The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Teaching Certification in Choral Music Education: Furman University
Bachelor of Arts in Music - Voice Performance: Florida State University
Acting: Jim Wren, John Gulley, Preston Lane
Voice and Dialects: Christine Morris, Jayce Tromsness
Singing: Susan Lyle, Nancy Walker, Larry Gerber, Trudy Fuller
Movement and Combat: Denise Gabriel, Jim Wren
SPECIAL SKILLS
Excellent ear for accents, dialects, and tight harmonies; IPA proficient; Good sight reading skills
Singing (mezzo soprano / alto) - advanced; Piano – intermediate; Banjo - intermediate
Orchestral / Choral Conducting, Musical Composition and Orchestration
Certified Sommelier by The Court of Master Sommeliers; Firearm proficient (pistol, rifle, shotgun)
Dance – good mover; SCUBA certified; SC licensed driver
Gallery
 |  heathmrt1 |  heathmrt2 |
|---|---|---|
 Clybourne Park |  Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike |  La Marquise de Merteuil |
 Les Liaisons Dangereuses |  Les Liaisons Dangereuses |  The Rocky Horror Show |
 Magenta |  The Rocky Horror Show |  Edited Image 2016-03-04 15-40-37 |
 Boeing Boeing |  Truvy 1.a |  Richard III |
 |  A Flea In Her Ear |  |
 209315_1872891016458_2789231_o |  Miranda-2 |  God of Carnage |
 Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson |  The Noodle Doodle Box |  Hot n Throbbing |
 Twelfth Night |  Cabaret |  Cabaret |
 Cabaret |  |  Sweeney Todd |
 Lamplight and Shadow |  Metamorphoses |  Metamorphoses |
Articles
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Reviews
Lauren in The Heath
"The marvel is that Barnett and Judy collaborate to inhabit these characters with such care and humanity that the verisimilitude is gripping. Before she strikes the first chord on the banjo, Barnett becomes Lauren"
-Nancy Grossman, Broadway World- Boston
"Slated for the role of Lauren, actress Miranda Barnett picked up a used banjo in a shop near her home in South Carolina six months ago and learned to play. Its previous owner had passed away, and the instrument seems to have found the perfect new home with Miranda and MRT. But don’t think her musical skills are lacking. She has a fine grasp of the instrument, with clean fingering and precise rolls.
-Karla Sorenson, MRT Cohort Report
La Marquise de Merteuil in Les Liaisons Dangereuses
"As the deliciously destructive marquise, Barnett comes equipped with aristocratic features and a stunning physique that would be the envy of the late 18th-century French court. Her graceful, vulnerable, flawed marquise is kind of like a cat—playful one minute, claws out in a flash, fastidious, wary and conniving. Bottom line: Barnett is the show or, as the French would say, its pièce de ré·sis·tance."
-John Jeter, fête Magazine
"Barnett, fresh from her comic turn in 'Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,' is diabolically delectable in a robust part that easily ranks among the echelons of coveted juicy roles such as Lady Macbeth or Blanche DuBois. She brims with confidence, has flawless articulate delivery and captivatingly commands our attention, and that of her rival when she beckons him in a come hither move from across the stage to kiss her hand."
-Sandy Staggs, Carolina Curtain Call
"Miranda Barnett, always striking and here particularly so, stars as La Marquise de Merteuil... As La Marquise, Miranda Barnett gives a commanding performance that is both fire and ice."
-Neil Shurley, The Greenville News
Mascarille in The Bungler
"Yes, Moliere wrote Mascarille for a man, but when a talent as formidable as Barnett is on the scene,a director seizes the chance... You'd think her balance would have to be affected by the injury, but it clearly isn't, not the way she bestrides the stage like a colossal star."
-New York theatre critic, Peter Filichia
Truvy in Steel Magnolias
"Barnett’s Truvy ... serves as this group’s unofficial ringleader, and you couldn’t hope for a more assured or spectacular one. I’m not sure my focus ever completely left Barnett whenever Truvy was on-stage. She didn’t even have to do anything. Barnett was simply alert and aware and constantly in the moment, and her physicality and readings were so controlled yet so unfussy – and so freaking hilarious – that it didn’t at all seem like she was taking over the show, intentionally or otherwise; the show just seemed to naturally gravitate toward her."
-Mike Schultz, River Cities' Reader
"Truvy ... is played spot-on by Miranda Barnett. Barnett portrays just the right amount of sexy mixed with common sense and love…especially romance. Watch out…she can be a scene stealer; her stage presence is captivating and always interesting to watch."
-Jami R. Smith, Clinton Herald
Catesby in Richard III
"Miranda Barnett deserves extra praise for her marvelous take on the assassin Catesby. She's one of those actors who can make Shakespearean dialogue sound utterly natural as she speaks it — "trippingly on the tongue" to quote a different play. She's also got a striking physical appearance that is at times comic, at other moments absolutely bone chilling."
-Neil Shurley, The Greenville News
