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.
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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/RSC), 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.
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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.
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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 expert commentary has been featured in The Huffington Post and on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Radio. Katie's 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).