“The energy,
clipped pace, development of each character, nuances of perceptions and
realizations, the startling transitions and denouement must be attributed
to Block’s steady and adept hand. Marvelous!”
– Stage Happenings, L.A.
ANDREW BLOCK is an award-winning,
critically-acclaimed Director and Teacher, with an affinity for strong stories
that grow from richly developed character and nuanced on-stage relationships.
Equally experienced with new works, classics and musicals, his work possesses
a collaborative spirit and is known for being intellectually challenging
and viscerally stimulating. His multiple collaborations with playwrights
and new works have led to publications, numerous new play awards, frequent
extensions, and Off-Broadway transfers.
Accomplishments
Andrew Block received the
2011 Ovation and L.A. Drama Critics Circle Awards for Best Director and
Best Production for his world premiere production of Small
Engine Repair. He has had critically-acclaimed and sold-out productions in The New York International Fringe Festival, including
an extension to the Encore Series at the Lucille Lortel; Best Director and
Best Play awards in a variety of NY festivals, and a GLAAD Media nomination
for Outstanding Theatre. He was named one of the “Top Ten Off-Off Broadway
Professionals in New York City” in 2011 by Review-Fix. His work has been
seen Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, Washington DC, Texas, Chicago, and multiple
NY theatre festivals.
He is a founding member
of Rogue Machine Theatre in Los Angeles, called “one of the most ambitious
and accomplished new theater companies” by Variety and one of the Best Companies
of the Decade by L.A. Weekly. He is responsible for curating their late-night
theatre series, Off the Clock, and creating the hit short-play festival,
Shorts & Sweets. He currently resides in New York
and is a member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC).
Directing credits include: Company, Lost and Found, Recovery,
The Shape of Things, Bingo With
the Indians, Dancing at Lughnasa, Twelfth
Night, Noises Off, City of Angels,
Little Shop of Horrors, and Tartuffe.
Early Years
Andrew grew up in the creative
gumbo-pot of New Orleans, where he spent his first years living next to
local tap-dance legend Oliver “Porkchop” Anderson. He began writing and
directing stage mysteries for his junior high classes and took his first
job creating puppet characters for the Italian Pavilion at the New Orleans
World’s Fair. He continued honing his early love of the arts through the
Tulane Summer Shakespeare apprentice program and programs at NOCCA and the
Contemporary Arts Center.
Education and Teaching
He studied at Adelphi University’s
BFA Acting program in New York, and continued his training through the MFA
program at The Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago, formerly
the Goodman School of Drama. He also received his teaching certification
at the University of Texas at Austin. He has directed and taught on the
high school, secondary and professional level, and currently teaches Acting
at the Waterwell Program at New York City’s Professional Performing Arts
School, and is Resident Director of the Manhattan College Players.
|