Andrew White Named Lookingglass Theatre Artistic Director

Lookingglass Theatre announces today that Andrew White, a founding Ensemble Member, has been elected by the Lookingglass Ensemble to the position of Artistic Director Elect.  He will transition into the position under the guidance of outgoing Artistic Director David Catlin, who will step down in June 2010.  Catlin recently accepted a Visiting Professorship at Northwestern University; he will remain an active Ensemble Member and will direct his adaptation of Icarus at Lookingglass in December 2009.
 
White will serve on the Lookingglass leadership team with Executive Director Rachel Kraft, Producing Artistic Director Philip R. Smith and Artistic Director of New Work Heidi Stillman.
 
“Andy White’s election as the next Lookingglass Artistic Director will serve the Company well.  I look forward to collaborating with him in his new position and I look forward to this next phase in Lookingglass’ development,” says Catlin.  “Andy’s history with the company dates back to our founding.  Andy has served Lookingglass as an immensely collaborative artist, a prominent voice of passionate, yet reasoned leadership, and as a stalwart champion of our mission to make theatre experiences that ‘change, charge and empower’-- both on stage and in the classroom.”
 
“I am honored to have been elected by my peers to this position,” comments White.  “Lookingglass has always been my artistic home and I look forward to working with the ensemble, staff and board as Lookingglass plans for its 23rd season and beyond.”
 
Andrew White is a founding member of Lookingglass Theatre Company, where he served as Artistic Director from 1990-92.  As a Lookingglass Ensemble Member and performer, he has participated in the workshop and development of more than thirty Lookingglass original adaptations and world premieres. He wrote and directed the company’s 1989 production of Of One Blood, about the 1964 murders of Schwerner, Chaney, and Goodman in Mississippi.  In 2004, he wrote and directed an adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984, which received a Joseph Jefferson Award for his adaptation.
 
Andy was in the 1987 production of Alice, from which Lookingglass derived its name and mission.  Since then, his Lookingglass acting credits include The Arabian Nights (1992, 1997, 2009), Our Town, The Wooden Breeks, The Old Curiosity Shop, Hillbilly Antigone, Secret in the Wings, Race, Summertime, Her Name Was Danger, They All Fall Down, Metamorphoses, Metamorphosis, Eye of the Beholder, The Master and Margarita, S/M, The Third Voyage, The Jungle, and The Odyssey.
 
Andy has also appeared in Northlight Theatre’s Inherit the Wind, the Goodman’s All the Rage, Steppenwolf’s Winesburg, Ohio and Another Time, and Victory Gardens’ Kids in the Dark.  Film work includes Love and Action in Chicago, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Since You’ve Been Gone, and American Anthem.  His television credits include TV 101, Eerie, Indiana, W.I.O.U., and Missing Persons.
 
Andy has worked in corporate, non-profit, and classroom environments, structuring and facilitating conversations with participants around organizational and community issues since 1990.  He has worked in Lookingglass Outreach and Education programs with students of all ages: developing and implementing arts-integrated units in elementary and high schools; facilitating faculty workshops in schools across the Chicagoland area; and working with teenagers across the city to use theater as a means of engaging their peers in dialogue about community issues, from HIV to racism.  He has taught Acting as an Adjunct Faculty Member at Northwestern University (B.S., 1987) and National-Louis University.  He has worked with medical students and patients at the Rehabilitation Institute; and served as an Illinois Artist-in-Residence at schools in Chicago, Evanston, and Park Ridge.  For the last eight years, Andy has been a facilitator with the Anti-Defamation League, and led Summer Institute sessions with teachers for Facing History and Ourselves, with the goal of using theatre techniques to enhance the toolbox with which faculty bring curriculum to their students. 
 
In 2007, Andy co-founded Mosaic Experience, a company dedicated to dialogue and an arts-based approach to facilitating conversations about diversity.  Mosaic Experience works with educational institutions, non-profit organizations, and corporations throughout Chicagoland.   He has also worked as writer and director with The Breakthrough Group (2003 to present), constructing and designing scenarios which address the various needs of diverse corporate clients.
 
He lives with his wife, Shari, and their two children, Julia and Asher.

Inventive.  Collaborative.  Transformative.  Lookingglass Theatre Company was founded in 1988 by eight Northwestern University students. 2009-2010 marks the company’s 22nd anniversary season. Lookingglass is home to a multi-disciplined ensemble of artists who create story-centered theatrical work that is physical, aurally rich and visually metaphoric. Lookingglass has staged 51 world premieres at 23 venues across Chicago, and garnered 41 Joseph Jefferson Awards and Citations.
 
Work premiered at Lookingglass has been produced in New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, Berkeley, Philadelphia, Princeton, Hartford, Kansas City, Washington D.C. and St. Louis.  Lookingglass Alice played earlier this fall at The Actors Theatre of Louisville and will be seen later this season at the ALLIANCE THEATRE and Syracuse Stage; Around The World in 80 Days will be produced at Centerstage in Baltimore and Kansas City Repertory.  Lookingglass Originals have been produced across the United States.
 
The Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago's landmark Water Tower Water Works opened in June 2003.  In addition to developing and presenting ensemble work, Lookingglass Education and Community programs encourage creativity, teamwork and confidence with more than 15,000 community members each year.
 
Lookingglass Theatre Company continues to expand its artistic, financial and institutional boundaries under the guidance of Artistic Director David Catlin, Executive Director Rachel Kraft, Producing Artistic Director Philip R. Smith, Artistic Director of New Work Heidi Stillman, a 22-member artistic ensemble, 15 artistic associates, 11 production affiliates and administrative staff a dedicated board of directors led by Lisa Narpastek Green. For more information, visit lookingglasstheatre.org.

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