Lauren Katz
Lauren is an actor, improvisor, educator and psychotherapist from Chicago. Inspired by the transformative potential of improvisation, which is rooted in play, she committed to stretching its reach beyond the stage. All aspects of her work continue to be guided by the question - ‘how do we relate’?
Theatre Credits Include:
Cascabel (Goodman Theatre), UP (Steppenwolf), When The Messenger is Hot (Steppenwolf & 59E59th Street Theatre), Great Men of Science Nos. 21 & 22 (Lookingglass Theatre), Wants and Needs (Lookingglass Theatre), ED (Remains Theatre), Slotnick Katz & Lehr (Steppenwolf), Filmdome (Victory Gardens), Ginger (Lost Studio, LA), Marriage in Progress (Edinburgh Fringe, 2022), Tag Team Loveliest 2000 (The Actor’s Gang)
Television Credits Include:
Parks And Recreation, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Women in Trouble, Arrested Development, Dead Last
Film Credits Include:
Highball, Kicking And Screaming, Mr. Jealousy, Rudy, Confessions Of A Teenage Mormon, Women in Trouble, Three Days in Havana
Teaching:
Teaching Artist, University of Michigan, School of Music, Theatre and Dance , Ann Arbor, MI | ‘Chekhov: Mining Truth in relationship through Improvisation’ | November, 2022
Founder | Instructor | Developer, Silverado Memory Care Home ‘Improvisation/Storytelling’, Los Angeles, CA | 2017 -2020
Teacher-Early Childhood Education, Temple Israel Of Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA | 2016 - 2020
Teaching Artist, Denison University, Theatre Department, Granville, OH | ‘Improvisation’ Master Class | April, 2019
Teaching Artist, LGBT Center -The Senior Services, Los Angeles, CA |‘Improvisation/Theatre games’|- 2013-2017
Teaching Artist, Kenyon College, Department of Dance, Drama and Film, Gambier, OH | ‘Improvisation’ Master Class | 2015
Teaching Artist, Harvard University, Department of Art, Film, and Visual Studies, Cambridge, MA | ‘Improvisation Theory & Practice‘ Master Class | 2011
Co-Facilitator, National Nursing Ethics Conference, Los Angeles, CA | March 2015
Teacher-Early Childhood Education, The Walther School, Los Angeles, CA | 2013-2017
Teacher/Facilitator, Alexandria House, Los Angeles, CA | ’Theatre Games and Improvisation’ 2012
Workshop Leader/Director, Lennox Middle School, Los Angeles, CA | ’Theatre Games and Improvisation’ | 1999
Teacher/Director, Thresholds Theatre Arts Project, Los Angeles, CA |’Improvisation and Theatre Games’ | 1993 - 1996
Teaching Artist, Off The Street Club, Chicago, Los Angeles, CA | ‘Theatre Games and Improvisation’ | Teacher/Facilitator |1989–1990
Education:
Lauren received her BFA from Goodman School of Drama/ Theatre School at DePaul University and her Master of Arts in clinical psychology from Antioch University, Los Angeles, CA.
Joey slotnick
Joey has been an Ensemble member with TONY award-winning Lookingglass Theatre Company in Chicago since 1996. He grew up in the leafy suburbs of Evanston and Wilmette with a slight detour to Las Vegas. Joey spent many years living and working in Los Angeles and New York City. In 2022 he returned to Evanston with his family. In addition to acting for film, television and on and off Broadway, Joey is also an improvisation teacher, and business communications trainer.
Broadway Credits Include:
Junk (Lincoln Center), The Front Page (Broadhurst), The Big Knife (Roundabout).
Off-Broadway Credits Include:
Tchaikovsky- None But the Lonely Heart (Signature); Dying For It (Atlantic Theatre Co.) Four world premiere plays by Ethan Coen, directed by Neil Pepe: A Play is a Poem (Mark Taper) Happy Hour, Offices, Almost an Evening, (Atlantic) New York Idea (Atlantic) and The Altruists (Vineyard Theatre);
Regional Theatre Credits Include:
Marriage in Progress (Edinburgh Fringe, 2022) A Play is a Poem (Mark Taper) Animal Crackers (Williamstown Theatre Festival) Chapter Two (Bucks County) Romance (Bay Street) The Cherry Orchard , Things You Shouldn’t Say Past Midnight, The Foreigner (all for LA Theatre works), The Lehman Trilogy (Broadway in Chicago/Timeline), Seagull (Steppenwolf), In the Room, Our Town, Great Men of Science Nos. 21 & 22, Wants & Needs, Hard Times, Arabian Nights, Up Against It, The Master & Margarita, Third Voyage (all with Lookingglass Theatre) , Animal Crackers (Goodman Theatre; Jeff Nomination), Slotnick Katz & Lehr (Steppenwolf), Ginger (Lost Studio, LA),Fun and Nobody (Next)
Film Credits include:
Merv (2025), Drive-Away Dolls, Plane, They/Them/Us, Humor Me, The Cobbler, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, Hollow Man, Blast from the Past, Twister, Judas Kiss, Tuna, Dinner and Driving, Since You’ve Been Gone, A League of Their Own
Television Credits include:
New Amsterdam, Leverage 2.0, Intelligence, The Goldbergs, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Murphy Brown, Blue Bloods, The Good Wife, Unforgettable, Too Big to Fail, Psych, CSI, The Office, Nip/Tuck, L&O: SVU, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Medium, Boston Public, Entourage, Boston Legal, Pirates of Silicon Valley, Family Guy, The Single Guy, Ellen, Beverly Hills; 90210.
Teaching:
Workshop Co-Leader, Visa, San Francisco, CA / Austin, TX / Ashburn, VA | ‘Leadership & Communications’ | Dramatic Resources | April, 2023—Present
Workshop Co-Leader, Accenture FS | On-line | ‘Communicating with Impact’ | Dramatic Resources | March, 2022—Present
Teaching Artist, Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Business , Evanston, IL | ‘Improvisation for Business' | Dramatic Resources | February, 2023
Teaching Artist, Lookingglass Theatre Company, Chicago, IL | ’Devising Shakespeare’ workshop
Teaching Artist, University of Michigan, School of Music, Theatre and Dance , Ann Arbor, MI | ‘Chekhov: Mining Truth in relationship through Improvisation’ | November, 2022
Teaching Artist, Oklahoma State University, Department of Theatre, Stillwater, OK |‘Improvisation & Acting for the Camera’ Master Class | February, 2020
Teaching Artist, Denison University, Theatre Department, Granville, OH | ‘Improvisation’ Master Class | April, 2019
Co-Leader, Cisco, San Jose, CA |‘Optimizing Impact’: Women’s Leadership Program | Dramatic Resources | May, August, October, 2019
Teaching Artist, Atlantic Theatre School, New York |‘Experimental Improvisation Lab’ | 2018
Co-Leader, Nestle-Purina, St. Louis, MO | ‘Communicating with Impact’ | Dramatic Resources | 2018
Teaching Artist, Kenyon College, Department of Dance, Drama and Film, Gambier, OH | ‘Improvisation’ Master Class | 2015
Teaching Artist, Harvard University, Department of Art, Film, and Visual Studies, Cambridge, MA | ‘Improvisation Theory & Practice‘ Master Class | 2011
Education:
Joey graduated with a BFA from Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX.