Biography
In addition to be an experienced teacher, Shad Willingham is an actor, director and playwright. Shad graduated from the North Carolina School of the Arts and went on to join the Actors Equity Association when he co-starred with Cynthia Nixon as George Gibbs in Our Town at the Old Globe Theatre, San Diego. Shad has traveled and performed in theatres around the world- Moscow, St. Petersburg, London, Germany, Paris and Amsterdam, to name a few. Upon receiving his Masters degree from the University of Washington in 2002, Shad joined the acting company of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for six seasons performing in nearly twenty productions. In 2007 Shad accepted a position with Tulane University to teach voice, speech and acting. Shad still acts regularly and directs around the country. Recently Shad appeared as Luther Billis in South Pacific at the New Orleans Lyric Theatre, Richard Haney in The 39 Steps with Theatre 13 and Dr.Givings in In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play with Southern Repertory Theatre and Macduff in Macbeth with the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival. In 2009 Shad directed and starred in the world premiere of his first full-length play Ham for the Holidays. In April 2011 Shad was awarded the Big Easy Award for Best University Production for Lend Me A Tenor which he directed at Tulane. This Summer Shad directed a production of Twelfth Night for the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival. He lives in Northridge with his wife Heidi and their amazing daughter, Tess.