MICHAEL's profile
In 1972 Michael Leroy Harding graduated from Baltimore’s Mervo High School, where he took the music of Isaac Hayes' SHAFT and recruited Students and Teachers to help create the school's first Black History assembly to a 60% all White school.
There Michael watched 100% of the student-body give a standing-ovations to the entire show. It was that day a Producer, Writer, Director, Film-Maker and Actor was born.
Michael became an Active-member of the Baltimore Theatre Alliance, while becoming a member with the Baltimore Dramatist Guild. He found other Playwrights and Entertainers to go on the road with stage plays. Leading to our ensemble to be called: ON THE ROAD/ OTR Theater Company.
Founded 2005, the OTR Theater mission is to provide a platform for aspiring Performing-artists, and to provide a platform for unknown Playwrights. Stories from Playwrights that focus on social issues: Alcoholism, Depression, Domestic Abuse, PTSD, Teen Suicide, Gambleing, Bigotry and Sexuality. Stories not always with a happy ending...BUT ALWAYS WITH A RESOLVE !
We do this at the same time while teaching aspiring Actors and Dancers professional techniques. Today OTR hires Dancing and Acting Instructors for Middle school students teaching them these Arts.
By 2009, Michael leased the company's first brick & mortar location. Located near Howard St. on North Avenue. This theater building is now known to us all today as the: Motor House Theater, 120 W. North Ave. When the lease expired, Michael moved the company to the Forest Park Senior Center. There we continued to be a platform for new Playwrights and aspiring Actors. It was late 2020 Michael with other professional Artist & Instructors began teaching professional-dance, singing, music, and acting lessons via Zoom.
The pandemic cost us an audience-drop in 2020, but the Performers wanted work. Michael was given a stage play that required many, many pre-teens, we advertised for auditions. The auditions were overwhelming because there were so many pre-teens with the desire, but lacked the skills. This stage-play evolved into a screen-play, Michael added Studio-film productions to the OTR Entertainment platform.
He has joined-hands with a local church and created an After School Program for pre-teens to learn the Performing-Arts. At no-charge, these children learn Live-stage production and Studio film-production. The stage-play became a sold-out success at the Forest Park Senior Center and is now being organized to be a filmed miniseries. Do have a peek at the YouTube clips over many years Michael has produced & performed: www.youtube.com/@OTR111/videos from 1972 Mervo High School to 2026 Michael's OTR Entertainment... "Always aiming to bring the Races together.''
