MISS OTIS' GHOST, with Jenny Morris on vocals and Ken Takata on piano, is a collaborative project to blend musical improvisation with theatre. Their repertoire comes from the Great American Songbook (e.g., Gershwin, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart) and draws upon diverse elements in both performers' backgrounds.
Jenny Morris appeared as Jane Austen in Theatre in the Round’s recent staging of Emma and also served as lead choreographer. She has also appeared in several other local productions with Glowing Ember Theatre. Besides working as a script consultant, she has held workshops on social dance and performed in the Celtic group, "The Tarryers," and her own jazz groups.
Ken Takata has worked as a teacher, writer, and composer. His writings have appeared journals such as Popular Music and Society and Discrete Applied Mathematics. Recent performances have been in Sundin Hall and Mears Park. His interests are in systems of improvisation and techniques of enumeration.
