Theatre News Wire

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" (pictured above with David Schwimmer and Laura Eason), "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.