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Andrew Child

Andrew Child

Andrew is a multimedia artist who has worked regularly as a director, animator, performer, and designer. His writing focuses on the complete arts ecosystem. He has been a guest artist at Emerson College, New England Conservatory, New York University, Clark University, Massassoit Community College, and more, and has been quoted in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, LA Times, Boston Globe, and others. You can hear him on the Broadway Podcast Network interviewing acclaimed artists, scholars, and historians for 50 Key Stage Musicals: The Podcast, or you can read his chapter on The Merry Widow in Routledge Press' 50 Key Stage Musicals.




LEARN MORE ABOUT Andrew Child

First Show:

The first show I saw was a production of 'Annie' at my local high school.

Favorite Show:

My favorite shows (in no particular order) I've ever seen are: Sammi Cannold's original production of 'Endlings' by Celine Song (A.R.T.), Zack Winokur's premiere of Davóne Tines' and Michael Schachter's 'The Black Clown' (ironically from the same season at the A.R.T.), Lee Sunday Evans' original restaging of 'Dance Nation' by Clare Barron (Steppenwolf), Suse Wächter's 'Brecht's Gespenster' (Berliner Ensemble), Joel Grey's 'Fiddler on the Roof' (National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene), Faye Driscoll's 'Thank You for Coming: Space' (REDCAT), Michael Arden's revival of 'Once on this Island' (Circle in the Square), and Summer Williams' production of 'Wolf Play' by Hansol Jung (Company One).

Favorite Stories:

  • Review: WOLF PLAY at Company One Theatre - Writing this article was such a treat because I was genuinely energized and thrilled when I left Boston Public Library after this production. I love puppetry, and seeing the art form elevated to such an emotional state was riveting.
  • Making Space for Gender-Queer Voices (and Making Sure to Pay Them Too) - Though I engaged in the interviews in this series years ago, there is still so much I reflect on from my conversations. Theatre still needs to be making space for gender-expansive voices and the charge must be led by a varied cohort of gender-expansive artists and administrators. This article scratches the surface, not only of what the problems are, but what the future could hold.
  • Review: A HIT DOG WILL HOLLER at Skylight Theatre Company & Playwrights' Arena - I had only been living in LA for two months when I got to review this show and had already started to form a rather bleak judgement on the state of theatre in the city (we were all rebuilding after the lockdown still). I was happily surprised by this world-class premiere by a world-class author in a tiny black box behind a book shop. I still point to this production when people drone on about how LA is "not a theatre city"!
  • Feature: HOORAY LA at Bob Baker Marionette Theater - I've loved every moment I've gotten to spend within the red velvet-decked halls of the Bob Baker Marionette Theatre. The shows are delightful and rife with unparalleled artistry. It was wonderful getting to chat with head puppeteer Alex Evans about this stunning tribute to LA.
  • Review: KATE at Pasadena Playhouse - Sometimes it's difficult writing about an artist of whom you are a fan. Though a major Kate Berlant stan, this show was easy to review. It was thought-provoking, risky, strange, and theatrically-rich, all while packing laughter from beginning to end.


MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

Review: COSÍ FAN TUTTE at LA Opera
Review: COSÍ FAN TUTTE at LA Opera
March 10, 2025

Whether thanks to Cavanagh’s approach or director Shawna Lucey’s reinventions, the opera never seems to warrant excuse or apology. Justin Austin and Anthony León never miss a chance for silliness, strutting about the stage with ridiculous levels of machismo to match their preposterous mustache disguises.

Review: IDOL WORSHIP at Catalina Jazz Club
Review: IDOL WORSHIP at Catalina Jazz Club
March 10, 2025

It is evident that Christ and Stole have been performing this show for a while: it is a well-oiled machine. Though still playful with each other, Christ tees up punchlines and gags perfectly which Stole is always able to nail home.

Interview: Gregg T. Daniel of TOPDOG/UNDERDOG at Pasadena Playhouse
Interview: Gregg T. Daniel of TOPDOG/UNDERDOG at Pasadena Playhouse
March 4, 2025

“There’s a great sense of theatricality, an element of surprise. (Parks) brings us in with humor and lightness and then pulls the veil back on us. The play exists in the world of three-card monte—- she cons us.”

Review: AN EVENING WITH JOHN CAMERON MITCHELL at Catalina Jazz Club
Review: AN EVENING WITH JOHN CAMERON MITCHELL at Catalina Jazz Club
March 4, 2025

John Cameron Mitchell’s cabaret show exhibited his demented, impish persona through a series of high-energy numbers. Of course, the crowd was most invested in his renditions of songs from Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

Review: THE CAMP at Aratani Theatre
Review: THE CAMP at Aratani Theatre
February 23, 2025

With a superior level of artistry in terms of performance, composition, and design, the reality of the Japanese American concentration camps is relayed to contemporary audiences.

Review: MACBETH at A Noise Within
Review: MACBETH at A Noise Within
February 16, 2025

In approaching the play for a new production at A Noise Within, director Andi Chapman has grappled with these facets of the work and— aside from a few key missteps— has delivered a clever, if forgettable, production.

Interview: Beth Leavel of OLD FRIENDS at Center Theatre Group
Interview: Beth Leavel of OLD FRIENDS at Center Theatre Group
February 5, 2025

Even for a seasoned performer, approaching Sondheim’s repertoire can be daunting. “It’s intimidating as a performer because you want to please him, to do something perfect.”

Interview: Mwenya Kabwe of THE GREAT YES, THE GREAT NO at The Wallis Annenberg Center For The Performing Arts
Interview: Mwenya Kabwe of THE GREAT YES, THE GREAT NO at The Wallis Annenberg Center For The Performing Arts
February 3, 2025

'A dramaturg generally works as a kind of advisor to a playwright,” muses Mwenya Kabwe, a theatre-maker currently based in Cape Town, South Africa. How, then, does a dramaturg engage with a process in which there is no playwright in the strictest sense of the term?

Review: Kelli O'Hara in Concert at LA Opera
Review: Kelli O'Hara in Concert at LA Opera
February 2, 2025

O’Hara has approached the entire evening with such severe gravitas and humble respect that familiar messages seem to land fresh on even jaded ears. How else are we meant to keep singing right now?

Review: LIFE & TIMES OF MICHAEL K at Cape Town's Baxter Theatre And Handspring Puppet Company
Review: LIFE & TIMES OF MICHAEL K at Cape Town's Baxter Theatre And Handspring Puppet Company
November 22, 2024

If you have yet to see the work of Handspring Puppet Company, hurry to get tickets for Life & Times of Michael K in its limited run. No one to my knowledge is maneuvering puppets quite like these masters.

Review: LA CAGE AUX FOLLES at Pasadena Playhouse
Review: LA CAGE AUX FOLLES at Pasadena Playhouse
November 18, 2024

Pinkleton has thrown every prop gimmick and novel idea in the book at the show, and in the process has disrupted the stuff that simply works about the piece.

Review: SHIPPING: A MUSICAL at Elysian Theatre
Review: SHIPPING: A MUSICAL at Elysian Theatre
October 20, 2024

It’s hard to succinctly describe Shipping, a new musical by Jen Jackson and Louisa Kellogg with music by Brian Heveron-Smith. On one hand, it’s a scrappy little treat— a cobbled-together weave of local comedy talents that filled the Elysian Theatre with non-stop laughs from beginning to end. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Read the review. </span>

Review: KIMBERLY AKIMBO at Hollywood Pantages Theatre
Review: KIMBERLY AKIMBO at Hollywood Pantages Theatre
October 20, 2024

The show is vibrant and candy-colored, featuring an earnest cohort of character actors perfectly placed into their roles, but with a stirring score by Jeanine Tesori and witty book by David Lindsay-Abaire, the piece is an instant classic of contemporary musical theatre.

Review: MAMA, I'M A BIG GIRL NOW at The Wallis Annenberg Center for The Performing Arts
Review: MAMA, I'M A BIG GIRL NOW at The Wallis Annenberg Center for The Performing Arts
September 29, 2024

In a meticulously scripted and carefully crafted medley of songs, the performers highlighted the highs and lows of their careers, illustrating their individual paths to Hairspray and sharing anecdotes of their vastly different lives since the closing of the show.

Review: MADAME BUTTERFLY at LA Opera
Review: MADAME BUTTERFLY at LA Opera
September 22, 2024

For all the device’s delicious successes, framing complicated shots of singers through the geometric slats of Ezio Frigerio’s behemoth set in ways that conversely evoke the opulence of a work by the Freed unit or the subtle asymmetry of a Mizoguchi movie, both the live performance and the filmed version suffer when neither is clearly prioritized.

Review: MEMNON at The Getty Villa
Review: MEMNON at The Getty Villa
September 7, 2024

Though the language is easy to imagine as the foundation for a more ostentatious spectacle, the sweeping narration is deftly relayed by a mighty fistful of actors and a polished trio of dancers in a way that allows grand battles and weighty sociopolitical musings to service the intrinsic poetry of the contemporary text.

Review: HAPPY FALL: A QUEER STUNT SPECTACULAR at Rogue Artists Ensemble
Review: HAPPY FALL: A QUEER STUNT SPECTACULAR at Rogue Artists Ensemble
August 25, 2024

Director Sean Cawelti has crafted a handful of stunning visuals which punctuate the narrative with video projection, meticulously-rendered puppet choreography, and a particularly stunning sequence with pyrotechnics.

Review: THE GROWN-UPS at Baby Teeth
Review: THE GROWN-UPS at Baby Teeth
August 5, 2024

The universe seems to have contrived to allow them to present a near-perfect production. With the gentle sounds of crickets in the background and the sporadic circling of LAPD’s helicopters, the seasoned cast weaves an intimate tale that is booby-trapped with a million Chekhovian guns which fire rapidly in an explosive climax.

Review: COMPANY at Hollywood Pantages Theatre
Review: COMPANY at Hollywood Pantages Theatre
August 3, 2024

The production is entirely fused with the bluish glow of the cellphones which tether the characters together and, in many ways, the continued relevance of the themes of the piece shine through. Musings on connections and loneliness seem freshly pertinent as Bobbie flicks through voicemails alone in her tiny apartment.

Review: PETER PAN at Hollywood Pantages Theatre
Review: PETER PAN at Hollywood Pantages Theatre
July 21, 2024

In attempting to reinvent Peter Pan for a modern audience, NETworks Presentations has embraced a major challenge. On the one hand, they have a gem. Jerome Robbins’ original production was packed with humor, heart, and adventures that captivated generations of audiences, not to mention a beautifully dynamic score by Morris ‘Moose’ Charlap.



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