Biography
Andrew Wittkamper studied couture dressmaking, tailoring, and pattern drafting at Indiana University while pursuing degrees in both Fashion Design and Costume Construction Technology. He earned his MFA in Costume Design at the University of Massachusetts Amherst after an extended European tour which included study at the Paris Fashion Institute and an eight-month stay on a barge along the river Seine. Andrew has worked in New York at Barbara Matera, Ltd., and Parsons-Meares, Ltd., building costumes for Broadway plays, musicals, ballets, and film, and for numerous Disney parades and ice shows. These include Cats, Phantom of the Opera, The Lion King, Uncle Vanya, Arms and the Man, Seussical, and the film Hearts in Atlantis, starring Anthony Hopkins and Hope Davis. Andrew also worked at the Santa Fe Opera for three consecutive seasons.
Andrew has been a member of the Theatre Department faculty at Suffolk County Community College since 2001, and as Resident Costume Designer has designed over seventy department productions, as well as ten seasons of the Long Island Shakespeare Festival. Favorite designs include those for Macbeth, As You Like It, A Midwinter Night's Dream, Lysistrata, Much Ado About Nothing, Seascape, and Cyrano de Bergerac, several of these with student co-designers. Andrew's design philosophy is based on the synthesis of technical virtuosity, exhaustive research, and relentless intellectual and artistic exploration.
Andrew presents frequently at the regional Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival on numerous topics including stage makeup design and application, and was for four years the host, emcee, and featured artist-model for the Region 1 Grand Costume Parade, in which designers and technicians from around the region bring their best work to display in a raucous and highly-charged runway show spectacular. For his contributions to the college, Andrew has been awarded the Governance Award for Academic Excellence and Service, and the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities.
Andrew is a passionate teacher and mentor, frequently engaging students to undertake design projects of their own, or shepherding them as assistants or co-designers. The work of his students Jonathan Buckmaster and Robert Doyle is represented here. Jonathan pursued further study in costume design at SUNY New Paltz, while Robert won the Region 1 Barbizon Award for Best Costume Design at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in February 2013.
Andrew regularly teaches courses in costume construction technology and stage makeup in addition to his design responsibilities. Recently, Andrew stepped outside of his usual discipline to co-author and co-direct The Icarus Project, a largely devised work using puppetry to tell the ancient story of Daedalus and Icarus. He and the company were honored many times over for this inventive work, securing the designation Distinguished Production of a Devised Work (a national award), as well as the National Allied Crafts Award for the show's student puppet designer, Honorable Mentions for the student lighting designers, and Certificates of Merit for choreography, percussion, and collaborative performance. He is currently writing a book about the experience of creating The Icarus Project.
Andrew has been a member of the Theatre Department faculty at Suffolk County Community College since 2001, and as Resident Costume Designer has designed over seventy department productions, as well as ten seasons of the Long Island Shakespeare Festival. Favorite designs include those for Macbeth, As You Like It, A Midwinter Night's Dream, Lysistrata, Much Ado About Nothing, Seascape, and Cyrano de Bergerac, several of these with student co-designers. Andrew's design philosophy is based on the synthesis of technical virtuosity, exhaustive research, and relentless intellectual and artistic exploration.
Andrew presents frequently at the regional Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival on numerous topics including stage makeup design and application, and was for four years the host, emcee, and featured artist-model for the Region 1 Grand Costume Parade, in which designers and technicians from around the region bring their best work to display in a raucous and highly-charged runway show spectacular. For his contributions to the college, Andrew has been awarded the Governance Award for Academic Excellence and Service, and the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities.
Andrew is a passionate teacher and mentor, frequently engaging students to undertake design projects of their own, or shepherding them as assistants or co-designers. The work of his students Jonathan Buckmaster and Robert Doyle is represented here. Jonathan pursued further study in costume design at SUNY New Paltz, while Robert won the Region 1 Barbizon Award for Best Costume Design at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in February 2013.
Andrew regularly teaches courses in costume construction technology and stage makeup in addition to his design responsibilities. Recently, Andrew stepped outside of his usual discipline to co-author and co-direct The Icarus Project, a largely devised work using puppetry to tell the ancient story of Daedalus and Icarus. He and the company were honored many times over for this inventive work, securing the designation Distinguished Production of a Devised Work (a national award), as well as the National Allied Crafts Award for the show's student puppet designer, Honorable Mentions for the student lighting designers, and Certificates of Merit for choreography, percussion, and collaborative performance. He is currently writing a book about the experience of creating The Icarus Project.