Andrew William Smith
The body, not the mind, is the starting place for the actor.
-Andrew William Smith
As a professor of acting, Andrew teaches in the entire first and second year- from an entryway into the work through heightened text. He also teaches juniors how to most effectively audition for film and TV through the art of self-tapes as well as an Audition for the Stage class. Andrew serves as Associate Area Chair for Acting/MT, leads the Student Rep committee to make our community better and more responsive, and is a dedicated member of the School’s audition team that brings amazing students to our classrooms.
Andrew William Smith joined the School of Drama in the fall of 2014. Before joining Carnegie Mellon, he worked as a professional stage, film and television actor, and as the founding Co-Artistic Director of Project Y Theatre Company in New York City.
Project Y Theatre Company produces new and innovative theatre, with a focus on unheard and diverse voices. We support new plays and playwrights that appeal to an audience interested in such themes as race, feminism, technology, and community. The Women in Theatre Festival, which seeks to broaden the opportunities for women in the entertainment industry by producing new work by women with more than 50% female representation of all artists involved, will celebrate its 10th year in the summer of 2025.
With Project Y, he has served as producer for 9 Women in Theatre Festivals (and counting…), 3 New Playwright Festivals, and over 40 world premiere’s including world premiere productions by Lee Blessing, Nikkole Salter, Banna Desta, Lia Romeo, Megan Monaghan Rivas, Amina Henry, Tori Keenan-Zelt, Samuel Brett Adams, Justin Shipman, and Karl Gajdusek.
Additionally with Project Y, he is a core member of the grant writing teams that have received funding from New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), Nancy Quinn Grant (from ART/NY), Creative Space Grant (from ART/NY), Bel Geddes Grant (from ART/NY), and the Puffin Foundation.
Andrew has directed multiple professional productions, including Scenes from an Execution by Howard Baker with Quantum Theatre, the world premiere of Three Musketeers 1941, by Megan Monaghan Rivas in New York City, and the world premiere of Yoga with Jillian, which was hosted at the Pittsburgh City Theatre Momentum Festival, the Women in Theatre Festival in NYC, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2023 and 2024.
As Co-Artistic Director of Project Y, he oversees the day to day business of Project Y Theatre Company, which includes a bi-monthly Writers Group, a bi-monthly Reading series of new work, and a commitment to the development of new and emerging voices in the theater.
As a professional actor, Andrew has been seen in many regional theatres around the nation, including: Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Pittsburgh City Theatre, Quantum Theatre, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Arena Stage, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Roundhouse Theatre, Potomac Theatre Project, Ars Nova, Studio Theatre, and Olney Center for the Arts. Film work includes Lucid, Shooting Script, Death of a Nation (Winner: Best Short, IndieFest 2011; Best in Show, Best Shorts Competition 2011), Under-Ground. Television work includes American Rust, GONE, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, One Life to Live, As the World Turns, and Guiding Light.
In 2019, Andrew was an invited teacher at the Monfitz International Theatre Festival in Sozopol, Bulgaria, and he continues to host teacher training workshops in NYC in Active Analysis and Creativity within the Actors Process.
Andrew is a graduate of the MFA Acting program at the University of California, San Diego, from which he received the Teaching Excellence Award upon graduation.