ABOUT
Katie Cunningham is an Assistant Professor and Head of Acting in the Department of Theatre at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and a member of the resident acting company (10 seasons) at Clarence Brown Theatre (CBT), the professional LORT theatre affiliated with the University. Also for CBT/UTK: resident voice, text, and dialect coach.
Recent and notable stage acting includes: Helen Hubbard in Murder on the Orient Express, Lady Brute in The Provok'd Wife (workshop and staged reading, dir. Philip Breen), Judy in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and Elvira in Blithe Spirit at Clarence Brown Theatre; multiple leading roles at the Tony Award-winning Utah Shakespeare Festival, including Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Maria in Twelfth Night, and Emilia in Othello among others; Carrie Girl with the Resident Acting Company (NYC); and multiple seasons and leading roles at Asolo Rep, including Both Your Houses (dir. Frank Galati), Our Betters, and God of Carnage among others. Recent film/television: Homicide Hunter, Lashes. Other stage credits include multiple New York companies (TACT/The Actors’ Company Theatre; Resident Acting Company; NY Fringe) and a host of regional stages across the country.
Recent and upcoming coaching projects include productions at PlayMakers Repertory Company; Great River Shakespeare Festival; Nashville Rep; Clarence Brown Theatre; and Southwest Shakespeare Company. Katie maintains a freelance voice, presence, and dialect coaching business, supporting clients in film and television, theatre, academia, and corporate settings.
Katie holds an M.F.A. in acting from Florida State University/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training and a B.A. in dramatic art and political science, summa cum laude, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a Certified Teacher of Knight-Thompson Speechwork and a PAVA Recognized Vocologist. Her writing and peer-reviewed research have appeared in The Voice and Speech Review, The Conversation, and The International Dialects of English Archive. Katie is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association since 2010, SAG-AFTRA, VASTA, and PAVA (Pan-American Vocology Association).