Andrew Strano

I'm non binary and use they/them pronouns, but at my particular intersection of trans/non-binary and immigrant, I'm someone who has to use all publicity materials in visa renewals at 3 year intervals. This means I prefer to not have they/them pronouns attributed to me in publicity images/socials posts/articles/press releases etc. However, I don't want to misgender or misrepresent myself either, so I'd request we don't use other pronouns in place of "they/them" either. Ideally "they/them" is circulated/used very freely internally (lord knows, it's not a *secret*), and in terms of public use I'm named, but don't have pronouns attributed to me in any area others may choose to disclose their pronouns. For example, a press release may read "Featured artists of the International New Musical Festival include musical theatre writers Jean Valjean (he/him), Sally Bowles (all pronouns), Andrew Strano, and Ado Annie Carnes (She/Her)". Please let me know if you have any questions! I'd be happy to talk it through!

Website The Untitled KUSAMA Project (musical)

Andrew is an Australian theatremaker and Fulbright scholar living and working in New York. Full-length works include: Nailed It! (Winner: Greenroom award, ‘Best original songs’, Selection: Adelaide Cabaret Festival); Jack Of Two Trades (Winner: Jeanne Pratt Artists in Residence); ’Voyagers’ (Commissioned by Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre, Winner: City Of Melbourne 2020 Arts Grant); ‘SKIN’ (Off-Broadway: Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, Selection: Global Forms Theatre Festival, Semi-Finalist: O’Neill National Musical Theatre Conference, Semi-Finalist: Syracuse University New Works, New Voices); ‘The Kusama Project’ (Frank Young Fund for New Musicals/National Alliance for Musical Theatre Writers in Residence Grant through Theatre Now, New York; Governor’s Island Artist in Residence program, ArtsConnection); and ‘A Call To Action’, a documentary film in support of Wagga Wagga’s Propatria – an organization dedicated to the support of ex-service people and first responders. Short works include: STARSONG (Rattlestick Theatre, Chain Theatre Fest, SOUNDBITES X, Indieworks Theatre’s Bite Sized Broadway); Anticipation (Rattlestick); Space (Lincoln Centre ‘Future Broadway Songbook’); Come Together (Indieworks Theatre’s Bite Sized Broadway); and CHICKEN/EGG (American Opera Project). As a performer, Andrew has contributed to the development of countless new musical theatre works; toured cabarets worldwide (nominated: ‘Best Cabaret Performance’, TheatrePeople); performed long-form improvisation for Impro Melbourne, The Improv Conspiracy (nominated: best comedy, Perth Fringeworld 2015), and as one half of silent improvisation duo ‘Quiet Achievers’ in performances accessible to the Deaf and hard of hearing community; and screamed long into the night once a week as the host of Melbourne’s premiere piano bar ‘Fab Fridays’ at the Butterfly Club with Lucy O’Brien for three ridiculous years. The founding artistic director of Soothplayers, Andrew developed and directed their flagship show “Completely Improvised Shakespeare”, which recently celebrated its 10 year anniversary, and continues to play to rave reviews and sold-out crowds across Australia. Andrew’s strong focus on pedagogy, accessibility in the arts, and educational innovation has seen them teach for theatres, universities, and schools worldwide, including New York University Tisch’s Open Arts, Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art, Stage School Australia, Monash University, Base Jump Theatre New Zealand, TBC Theatre Scotland, and right here in New York City for Harlem School of the Arts, ArtsConnection (including for the Broadway Jr. program and the Teach with GIVE initiative), Brooklyn Music School, and more. Andrew’s studies include musical theatre performance at the Victorian College of the Arts/University of Melbourne; improvisation at Chicago’s iO Theater; puppetry under Henson puppeteer Peter Friedman; clowning with Phil Burgers/Doc Brown, an M.A. in Writing for performance from the University of Melbourne; and an M.F.A. from the NYU Tisch Graduate Musical Theatre writing program (for which they were awarded the Peerce and Shubert named scholarships, an Australian American Arts Fund grant, a Performer’s Trust Foundation grant, the George Fairfax memorial award, a Major Mike Walsh fellowship, and the Victorian Fulbright Scholarship, awarded to the highest scoring applicant statewide). Andrew is a proud to be a member of the NYFA New York City Artists Corps, the Theater Now New York Musical Theatre Writers Lab, Root Beer Occasion’s theatremakers collective, and the Dramatists Guild. For more, see andrewstrano.com