Theater Klubb with Kristen Underwood and Andrew Ellingsen

Kristen Underwood, originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, worked as an actor in theatre for young audiences and regional theatre for several years before settling in Lanesboro, MN to co-manage, act, direct, and teach at the Commonweal Theatre from 1992-2002. Upon moving to Decorah in 2002, Kristen founded Upstart Crow Theatreworks offering classes and performance opportunities for all ages. Throughout her first ten years in Decorah, Kristen collaborated with Vesterheim in annually creating an original play with young actors, performed each summer during Nordic Fest. Kristen co-founded ArtHaus with Lea Lovelace in 2008 and has taught theatre classes and directed productions at Luther College intermittently over the course of 30 years. Kristen enjoys her role as a mentor to speech and drama students at Decorah High School, and serves as co-director of the fall production. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre from the Univ. of Colorado in Boulder, and her Master of Fine Arts in Acting from the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. 

Andrew Ellingsen is Director of the Torgerson Center for Nordic Studies at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. A past Director of Folk Art Education at Vesterheim, Ellingsen also taught elementary music and worked as an instructional coach in Iowa and Minnesota for nearly twenty years. He earned his B.A. in music education at Luther College and his master’s degree in music education at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.