The life changing power of live theater | Andrew Russell | TEDxSeattle

For thousands of years, live theater has captivated the human mind. In this funny and revealing talk, Andrew shows why we respond so strongly to the stage and why recognizing its superpower is more important now than ever. Andrew is the Producing Artistic Director of the Tony Award-winning Intiman Theatre and directs extensively in Seattle, New York City, and regionally. With a focus on directing stage productions celebrating outsiders and those on the fringe, he conceived and directed Stu for Silverton, a new musical about America’s first transgender mayor heralded as “groundbreaking” and the “best of 2013” by The Seattle Times. Stu for Silverton has been developed further, under Andrew’s direction, at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, National Alliance for Musical Theatre, and Theatre Latte Da in Minneapolis. In addition to his work as a producer, writer, and director, he is also a Vice President of Storytelling with Edelman and has done many workshops and lectures on the power of storytelling and the usefulness of theatre skills within the workplace for the company. He’s also done corporate training, consulting, or lecturing for companies such as Juniper Networks, ISES and Microsoft. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx