Katie Herling
Actor, Singer, Teaching Artist
Meet Katie HeRling
Katie Herling is an American actor, singer, and educator.
Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Katie grew up surrounded by some of the USA's greatest cultural offerings. The child of devoted members of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Katie was introduced to the concept of professional make-believe at an early age. As she accompanied her family to SCA events, Katie began to show keen interest in performing. At the age of 11, her mother signed her up for the California Shakespeare Theatre Summer Conservatory - The premier Shakespeare training program in the Bay Area and a top West Coast training program. The rest, as they say, is history!
Katie continued her education with the CalShakes Conservatory throughout her middle and high school educations. It was here that she gained a deep knowledge of and respect for in Shakespeare's text, and grew her passion for performance as a career path.
At the age of 15, Katie enrolled at the ClaytonArts Academy - A renowned performing arts high school in Concord, CA. Katie made up one of only 12 students in the competitive Acting Specialty Program, whose graduates have gone on to work in such distinguished institutions as the Book Of Mormon First National Tour and beyond.
While at ClaytonArts, Katie participated in nationwide acting competitions - Winning 1st place in the 2010 San Francisco English Speaking Union's National Shakespeare Competition as year's youngest competitor, and performing in such prestigious venues as the famed Carnegie Hall in New York City.
In 2013, Katie began attending the Oregon Center for the Arts in Ashland, Oregon - A city built around the famed Oregon Shakespeare Festival. After so many years of studying, analyzing, and loving Shakespeare's work, to live in a town centered around The Bard was a natural fit.
While at the OCA, Katie had the opportunity to work alongside and learn from world-renowned directors such as Jim Edmondson, Penny Metropulos, and Scott Kaiser, as well as work with distinguished teachers such as Drama Desk Winner U Johnathan Toppo (Stage Combat), Moses Villarama (Contemporary Acting), Jackie Apodaca (Contemporary Acting, Checkov, Ibsen), Kris Danford (Fitzmaurice Voicework), and James Donlon (Mime & Movement).
In January 2018, Katie was cast as Vera in Jackie Apodaca's production of Qui Nguyen's "She Kills Monsters." For her performance as Vera, Ms. Herling was awarded a Certificate of Merit from the Kennedy Center for Excellence in Acting.
Though still pursuing her Bachelor of Fine Arts, Katie was determined to begin her career as an educator as soon as possible. She began teaching at the CalShakes Conservatory in 2015, before moving on to the Quinan Street Project - A new and upcoming Shakespeare education experience in the San Francisco Bay Area. Throughout her time at the OCA, Katie continued to balance her duties as a student with her teaching career.
Katie graduated from the Oregon Center for the Arts in 2019 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Performance and a Minor in Shakespeare studies.
Mary Read in Legend of Bonny Anne
Photo Credit Alison Hoffman
Joan in Small Mouth Sounds
Photo Credit Kim Budd
Katie currently resides in Los Angeles, California with her lovely partner, perfect black cat, and jet-fuel-powered shih tzu disaster.
Since moving to Los Angeles, Katie has had the pleasure of working with the Once Upon a Time Children's Theatre in Malibu, CA - Bringing musical theatre to students grade 3-8 in a small town setting - and has spent the last 2 years as a Teaching Artist with the Kingsmen Shakespeare Company in Thousand Oaks, CA.
With Kingsmen, Katie has had the opportunity to travel across Los Angeles, teaching Shakespeare to students across the county and playing Puck in the Kingsmen Shakespeare Company Educational Tour production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Most recently, Katie had the pleasure of playing Jim Matey in the Struts and Frets Theatre Company virtual production of Dear Brutus.
Favorite past roles include Vera in She Kills Monsters (dir. Jackie Apodaca, Kennedy Center Certificate of Merit for Excellence in Acting), Clytemnestra in Elektra (dir. Penny Metropulos), Joan in Small Mouth Sounds (dir. Jackie Apodaca), and Fulvia/Calpurnia/Titania in the World Premiere production of Scott Kaiser's Shakespeare's Other Women (dir. Scott Kaiser).
Katie is currently in production for Burn The Witch - The Series, an urban fantasy web series centering a coven of nine Witches as they uncover the truth of the mysterious death of their coven member. Katie plays Sarah Corey, an Elemental witch whose erratic power is focused on flame.
Burn The Witch - The Series is set to premiere on Youtube in October of 2022.
For more information on Burn The Witch - The Series, visit @burnthewitchseries on Instagram.
For more information on Katie's upcoming projects, visit New and Upcoming.