Dan LaMorte

Dan founded The Artistic Home in Chicago before he moved to New York to establish The Artistic Home New York where he now teaches and conducts playwright workshops. He founded and was the Artistic Director of Center Theater Ensemble (CTE), an ensemble theater and professional training program for actors, directors and playwrights for over 15 years. During his tenure with CTE, he directed over 35 productions, was awarded an After Dark Award for Direction for Detachments; was nominated twice for Joseph Jefferson Citations for direction for Merrily We Roll Along and The Lusty and Comical History of Tom Jones and received two Artisan Citations for outstanding seasons in 1987 and 1991. He has directed at the Wisdom Bridge Theatre, National Jewish Theatre and Pegasus Players in Chicago. In New York City, he directed Colleen Dodson's one woman show Straight Arrows, a concert reading of Detachments at the West Bank Cafe, the world premiere of CLUBLAND in the New York Fringe Festival and recently The Years at the Independent Theatre.

As a playwright, he conceived and wrote the book for CTE's successful musical Two Many Bosses, which received five Artisan Awards including Best Production. He was also awarded the Ronald Williams Award for his play Such Is Life. Since moving to New York City, he has held the positions of Executive Director for the Pascal Rioult Dance Theatre, a modern dance company, and Managing Director of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation, a resource center for directors and choreographers. In October of 2001, he returned to Chicago to direct Orpheus Descending for The Artistic Home and again in 2002 to direct the world premiere of Memories of Viola.

In the summer of 2002, he conceived and conducted a Directing Symposium, ‘Mentoring the New Director' in Heidelberg, and taught acting workshops in Mons, Belgium, Hanau, Heidelberg, Stuttgart and Weisbaden, Germany. He returned to Germany to direct The Glass Menagerie in Stuttgart Theatre Center and produced and directed a stage reading presentation of a new play Come To Good in the US Army Europe One Act Festival in Heidelberg. His most recent directing credits are the European premiere of The Last Five Years in Darmstadt, Germany, NUNSENSE at the SHAPE Performing Art Center in Mons, Belgium and the World Premiere musical of VIVA Las Wedding in Bamberg and Wuerzburg, Germany, which he conceived and wrote and The Shadow Box for the Bavarian Arts Guild in Vilseck.