Katie Tarara

Interim Executive Director

Katie Tarara brings twenty years of leadership experience in non-profits and business to her interim role at Arcade. She is known for building teams that get results and she has led teams to create programs, release new products, increase revenues, cultivate customer relationships, and build powerful partnerships. A long-time fan of comedy, Katie began taking classes and performing comedy at Arcade Comedy Theater in 2018.  Currently, she’s on the producing team and the regular host of “Bracket Night” a monthly game show at Arcade and has previously been in the cast of Camp Loose Leaf and Latchkey Kids. In her role as Interim Executive Director, Katie combines her love of comedy with her passion for data-driven decision making to lead the team of staff and volunteers who are working to revive the Arcade in the post-pandemic Pittsburgh.

Nia Johnson

Director of Programming

Nia is Arcade’s Director of  Programming, as well as a comedian, actress, and improviser. As a graduate of Arcade’s improv program, her love of improv and Arcade grew with the theater when she became a house manager in 2017, with the move to 943 Liberty Ave. Nia has been a member of Arcade max team Change Machine, as well as a cast member of such beloved shows as Playlist and The Smallest Show in Town. She also co-produced a month-long live-read series for Arcade’s first-ever Black History Month celebration. Nia is excited about the possibilities of this position and committed to expanding the Arcade audience and community.

Robin Hitchcock

Academy Director

Robin is Arcade Comedy Theater’s Academy Director and has taught Improv 101, Intro to Sketch, and Advanced Sketch at Arcade. She began as a sketch writer and performer with Frankly Scarlett in 2012, and although she didn’t think she could ever be comfortable on stage without a script, she started taking improv classes as a way to make friends after moving to Cape Town, South Africa for her husband’s career. To her surprised delight, she not only could improvise, but loved to improvise, an experience she strives to re-create for her 101 students. As Academy Director, Robin administrates Arcade’s comedy classes, seeking to run the program in a way that is efficient and rewarding for all of Arcade Academy’s students and teachers.

Aaron Tarnow

Technical Director

Aaron Tarnow has been the Technical Director of the Arcade Comedy Theater since 2017 and has been working here in some capacity since 2015.  In that time, he has been the TD (along with wearing other hats) for many Arcade productions, including: The Thanksgiving Play, The Night Before Christmas, JFLE: Grand Finale, Dr. Iguanatron’s Medicine Show, Boo Humbag!, Sex a.k.a. Wieners and Boobs, and My Dinner with André: The Musical: A Live Read. He is (or was) also the Technical Director/Producer for many current and former recurring Arcade shows and teams, including: JFLE (SF Sketchfest 2020), Knights of the Arcade (2021 Best Comedy Troupe, Pittsburgh City Paper), Latchkey Kids (2022 Best Improv/Sketch Team, Pittsburgh Magazine’s Best of the Burgh), Bracket Night, You’re the Next Contestant, Justin & Jerome Experience, The Death Show, and others. Outside of Arcade, Aaron is a Production Technician at City Theatre Company and works at various other theatres around Pittsburgh.  During the pandemic closure, he acted as a remote technician for the Magnet Theater (NYC)’s virtual shows, including as the remote TD for Nights of Our Lives, New York’s second longest-running storytelling show.  Prior to that, he was the Technical Director of the Pittsburgh Comedy Festival (2014-2018), as well as its Executive Director (2016-2018).  If you’ve read this far, he wants you to sign up for a class at Arcade, because he thinks the local comedy scene is great, but it would be even better with you in it.

Brittany Alexis Felder

Liz Labacz

Amy Ream
Assistant U.S. Attorney