About Terra
Terra Taylor Knudson
*Proud Member of AEA
SAG/AFTRA Eligible
TERRA TAYLOR KNUDSON is an award-winning performing artist, producer, and playwright in Long Beach, California.
With a background in classical and musical theatre, she has been seen on countless stages across California, as well as parts of Arizona, Massachusetts, and her home state of Colorado.
Her critically acclaimed original work has been produced in numerous venues across the country and her award-winning solo show, Willy’s Lil Virgin Queen, has been regularly produced since its premiere in 2016 and made the top ten list of favorite solo shows during the 2017 Hollywood Fringe Festival, out of more than one hundred solo shows produced that season.
The show had been preparing for a multi-state tour when it was invited to participate as an alternate in the 2020 New York United Solo Fest’s inaugural London festival. The pandemic put those plans on hold, but the show is currently in preparation to participate in numerous virtual fringe festivals in the summer of 2022. View a brief promo for the show HERE.
In 2005, she was awarded the prestigious Arts Professional of the Year award by the Arts Council of Long Beach and has received multiple honors by the Hollywood Fringe Festival, the Santa Monica Playhouse, the University of Colorado, the Long Beach Playhouse, and the Anaheim Performing Arts Center Foundation.
She has served as an educator and arts advocate for youth across Los Angeles County, specifically in the cities of Anaheim, Los Angeles, and Long Beach, where she sat on numerous boards and helped establish a number of non-profit arts organizations aimed at bringing arts to underserved communities and schools.
Her work in educational outreach with Musical Theatre West, The Boys & Girls Club, the Long Beach Playhouse, and the Long Beach Center for the Arts resulted in hundreds of primary school children experiencing live theatre annually for free.
In 2004, she established Olio Theatre Works, an independent theatre company that focused on original work including musical comedy, contemporary takes on classical works, creative entertainment solutions for private events and special occasions, and educational outreach. During its decade-long run, Terra produced hundreds of events and productions including premieres of her shows; Intimately Wilde, about the rise and fall of Oscar Wilde, and Old Black Magic: A Haunted Musical, which ran regularly between 2004 and 2014.
In 2017, Terra, along with creative partner, Timothy P. Thorn, introduced the critically acclaimed antibullying production, Grasping Bullying, following a year-long project working with students from a local high school. It premiered for over 1,100 middle and high-school students and highlighted the dark realities of bullying and the damaging culture of social media on youth.
Check out a clip HERE.
The piece, which is a mix of personal stories and dramatic pieces, premiered for over one-thousand high school students in Cerritos, California to praise from students nd educators alike.
Terra makes her home in Long Beach, California
Photo by D. Fahey
