Andrew Tsao (born August 3, 1959) is an American

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

and

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon acce ...

and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

Early life

He earned his Master of Fine Arts from

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a Private university, private art school in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for ...

Career

Tsao worked in regional theater and

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

. He became resident director of the

Indiana Repertory Theatre Indiana Repertory Theatre, frequently abbreviated IRT, is a professional regional theatre in Indianapolis, Indiana that began as a genuine repertory theatre with its casts performing in multiple shows at once. It has subsequently become a Regiona ...

where he directed, served as the theater's literary manager and taught acting. He was invited to become artistic director of the New Harmony Project, a writer's lab in New Harmony, Indiana. There he oversaw development of plays, musicals, screenplays and TV pilots. Tsao then moved to Los Angeles to work in television. He became a series director on ABC's ''

Home Improvement The concept of home improvement, home renovation or remodeling is the process of renovating, making improvements or making additions to one's home. Home improvement can consist of projects that upgrade an existing home interior (such as electr ...

'', produced and directed NBC'S '' Working'', '' Soul Man'', among others, and dozens of other prime time programs, including episodes of ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...

'', ''

Caroline in the City ''Caroline in the City'' is an American television sitcom that ran on NBC from 1995 until 1999. It stars Lea Thompson as cartoonist Caroline Duffy, who lives in Manhattan. The rest of the cast includes Eric Lutes, Malcolm Gets, Amy Pietz, an ...

'', ''

Suddenly Susan ''Suddenly Susan'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from September 19, 1996, to December 26, 2000. The series was created by Clyde Phillips and starred Brooke Shields in her first regular series. Shields played Susan Keane, a ...

'', '' Jesse'', '' The Single Guy'', '' In The House'', ''

The Jeff Foxworthy Show ''The Jeff Foxworthy Show'' is an American sitcom television series created by Tom Anderson, starring comedian Jeff Foxworthy and based on Foxworthy's stand-up comedy routine. The series originally aired on ABC from September 12, 1995, to May ...

'', '' DAG'', '' Madigan Men'', ''

Sabrina Sabrina may refer to: People and fictional characters * Sabrina (given name), a feminine given name, including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Hafren, known in English as Sabrina, a British princess in Welsh mythology ...

'', '' The Tick'', '' The George Lopze Show'', ''

Phil Of The Future ''Phil of the Future'' is an American science fiction comedy television series that originally aired on Disney Channel for two seasons from June 18, 2004, to August 19, 2006. It was created by Douglas Tuber and Tim Maile and produced by 2121 Pr ...

'' and ''

Wizards Of Waverly Place ''Wizards of Waverly Place'' is an American fantasy teen sitcom created by Todd J. Greenwald that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between October 2007 and January 2012. The series centers on Alex Russo (Selena Gomez), a teenage wi ...

''. In Los Angeles, Tsao was invited to direct two productions for Shakespeare Festival L.A. (''

The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

'', and ''

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

'') a world premiere opera for

Los Angeles Opera The Los Angeles Opera, originally called the Los Angeles Music Center Opera, is an American opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth-largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler P ...

(''On Gold Mountain''), He directed two short films: ''Brightness'' which was awarded the Gold Special Jury Prize for 2001 at the WorldFest in Houston and ''Solstice''. Theater credits include the world premiere of Theodore Drieser's '' Sister Carrie'' for Indiana Rep, and ''The Tempest'' at East West Players in Los Angeles, ''

The Merry Wives Of Windsor ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...

'' for Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and Nilo Cruz's adaptation of

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian writer and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th centur ...

''A Very Old Man'' With Enormous Wings for Center Theater Group in Los Angeles. Internationally, he has produced and directed noted original devised theater works at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Tsao was an associate professor of dramatic arts at the University of Washington School of Drama where he was a member of the faculty of the Graduate Professional Acting and Directing Programs, headed the undergraduate drama program from 2011 to 2017, led summer drama programs at the Edinburgh Festivals and worked with the University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences C21: Liberal Learning in the 21st Century innovation in higher education program. In 2003 and 2004, Tsao was an executive consultant and creative director for The Walsin Company in Shanghai, where he oversaw the development of themed entertainment concepts for a multimillion-dollar commercial real estate project. In 2018, Andrew founded The Studio Seattle, a small acting school teaching the professional actor's process. He also produces and directs theatre, television and film projects.

Screenwriting and Producing

As screenwriter, Tsao contributed story and dialogue for Taiwanese director Edward Yang's feature film ''

Mahjong Mahjong (English pronunciation: ; also transliterated as mah jongg, mah-jongg, and mahjongg) is a tile-based game that was developed in the 19th century in China and has spread throughout the world since the early 20th century. It is played ...

'', which won the Special Mention Prize at the Berlin Film Festival in 1996. He has also produced four international touring theatre works as well as the TV pilot "A Little Dark" in 2024.

Actor

As an actor, he appeared stage productions and portrayed Trofimov in ''

The Cherry Orchard ''The Cherry Orchard'' () is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Written in 1903, it was first published by '' Znaniye'' (Book Two, 1904), and came out as a separate edition later that year in Saint Petersburg, via A.F. Marks Pu ...

'' directed by Libby Appel and played the role of David in the feature film ''Mahjong'' directed by Edward Yang. He appeared as himself in the 2009 documentary '' My Big Break''. He was awarded the Center for Leadership Development's Arts Award by the City of Indianapolis, served as a grants panelist and on-site reviewer for the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

and volunteers as a media advisor for public advocacy groups, Asian voter registration initiatives and local political campaigns.

Awards

In 2012 he was awarded a Donald E. Peterson Endowed Fellowship for creative work at the University of Washington. Additionally, he was awarded the City of Indianapolis' Arts award and the Gold Special Jury prize for his short film ''Brightness'' at the 2001 Houston Worldfest film festival.

Educator

In addition to his directing career, Tsao was associate professor of dramatic arts at the University of Washington School of Drama for twelve years where he headed the undergraduate drama program for seven years, taught acting and directing and cinema, led summer drama study programs at the Edinburgh Festival and was the artistic director of The Drama Collective, a European theater studies creative lab in Europe. He founded The Studio Seattle in 2018 where a select group of students study acting and directing with him. Andrew currently resides on Tiger Mountain, Washington where he works as a writer, producer and fine artist. www.thestudioseattle.com

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsao, Andrew American documentary filmmakers American television directors American television producers California Institute of the Arts alumni Living people American educators University of Washington faculty Place of birth missing (living people) 1959 births