Music Master Andrew Strano Joins the LMA Roster
LMA is thrilled to announce the addition of Andrew Strano to our growing roster of talented teachers.
Andrew will be teaching Musical Improv at LMA Melbourne starting in Term 1, 2017.
“I’m thrilled to be joining the team at LMA – they’re doing such great work teaching all sorts of comedy and I’m proud to be a part of that. Teaching is one of my great passions and I can’t wait to see students develop their skills through the work we do together. It’s so exciting to be bringing my experiences in both the improv and musical theatre worlds to something as unique and excellent as musical improv, and I’m lucky to be joined by the brilliant Lucy O’Brien as the musical director. I can’t wait LMA! Thanks for having me on board!”
Andrew’s workshop will cover several aspects of music in long form improv. From solo songs, group numbers, “sonic exploration,” song structure, stage craft, countermelody and the transition from scene to song… all using the improvisational tools of character want, group mind and comedic focus.
No prior singing or dancing experience – or expertise – is required!
An improviser, musical theatre performer and Green Room Award winning lyricist, Andrew graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts Musical Theatre program in 2008 and has since performed extensively across the worlds of theatre, film & TV, musical theatre and cabaret. His theatre/musical theatre credits include international and national tours, and he appeared weekly on live TV for C31’s Get Cereal for over a year.
Andrew’s other great passion is his work as a lyricist, and it is in this capacity he has completed his masters in writing for performance at the VCA. As the words to Loclan Mackenzie-Spencer’s music, Andrew debuted their full length work Nailed it! at the Butterfly Club to 5-star, rave reviews in 2014. Since then, they’ve won a Green Room Award (Australia’s premier Cabaret Awards) for Best Original Songs, received 5-star reviews all over the world, including the Edinburgh Fringe in 2015, been nominated for Best Male Cabaret Performer by Theatrepeople and were the Melbourne winners of the 10th Annual Australian Cabaret Showcase.
Andrew was a student in the first ever Improv Conspiracy public workshop and has been performing as a member of their ensemble since 2012. Andrew has also trained at iO Chicago, and with Dave Razowsky and Joe Bill.
Andrew has performed in the casts of The Remix, Harold Night, Now showing: The Improvised Movie and Mixtape. His other performance projects include Quiet Achievers, a silent improv duo that is completely accessible to Deaf and/or hard of hearing audiences, and with the Impro Melbourne ensemble for Monster of the Week.
Andrew is the creator of Original Cast: the completely improvised musical, Improvised Love Actually, Completely improvised potter, Improvised Downton Abbey, the Director of Soothplayers: Completely improvised Shakespeare, and Producer of the Red Hot Improv Jam, a weekly show designed to give stage time in a loving environment to performers, whether they’re brand new or highly experienced. He was also excited to direct the debut season of the original sketch show Decent Human Beings.
Other improv credits include performing in Perth Fringeworld where he received a nomination for best comedy, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Melbourne Fringe Festival for The Improv Conspiracy, including their debut season of 3 Mad Rituals. He played the Melbourne Comedy and Fringe Festivals in 2015 for Quiet Achievers, and co-founded and co-directed Impromptunes: The Fully Improvised Musical for their debut fringe festival season.