Manuel R. Cawaling, Executive Director

Manuel R. Cawaling became YTN's new Executive Director in May 2008. A Seattle native, Manuel has been working professionally as an artist and administrator for his entire career. In 1989, Manuel was at the forefront of the fringe theatre scene in Seattle, co-establishing Capitol Hill's Pilgrim Center for the Arts. He also served as a founding board member for Seattle's League of Fringe Theatres, the predecessor of today's Theatre Puget Sound and the organization credited with establishing Seattle's Fringe Theatre Festival, the first such festival in the United States. Between 1992 and 1998, Manuel worked at the Northwest Asian American Theatre, and through his leadership, the theatre initiated an award-winning Youth Outreach and Education Program; conducted theatre residencies in local high schools and communities; and developed a capital campaign which successfully raised funds for renovations and equipment. In 1999, Manuel became Exhibit Developer/Manager at the Wing Luke Asian Museum, where in addition to his exhibit work, he headed organizational outreach initiatives and YouthCAN, an empowerment program designed to assist Asian-Pacific-American youth in the development of leadership and creative skills. Manuel is active in outreach to youth, including immigrant and refugee communities. Since January 2003, Manuel has been with Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, initially in artistic programming and then crossing over into management. In June 2004, Manuel became Managing Director, overseeing all administrative and programmatic activities for the performing arts facility. He has served two terms on the Seattle Center Advisory Commission and as a member of the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture's Public Art Advisory Committee. Currently, Manuel serves as Vice President for the Washington State Arts Alliance.

Mimi Katano, Artistic Director

Mimi Katano came to YTN in October of 1999 as a teaching artist and was named the Artistic Director in July of 2002. Mimi received a Bachelor's Degree in Performing Arts from Emerson College and a Master's Degree in Child Development from Wheelock College both in Boston Massachusetts. Since arriving at YTN, Mimi has directed and choreographed several productions, and wrote the original play A Story of Sadako. Along with various Equity theatre appearances, Mimi was a member of the award winning Beau Jest Moving Theatre in Boston, with which she performed at a number of theatre festivals including Piccolo Spoleto in South Carolina. Aside from her work for YTN, Mimi was a member of Living Voices from 2000-2002 and was also a teaching artist for Seattle Children's Theatre and Seattle Repertory Theatre. A Japanese National, Mimi has done a variety of cultural consulting work for organizations such as Seattle Children's Museum and Book-It Repertory Theatre. Mimi's co-written play on Japanese-American internment during World War II, Justice at War, was published in the book "And Justice for Some" in 2004.

Brian Jackson, Technical Director

Brian Jackson has been YTN's Technical Director for almost three years and some of his designs at YTN include: A Midsummer Night's Dream and Charlotte's Web. He was props master for YTN's Summer Stock The Wiz, and Theatre Schmeater's Requiem for a Heavyweight. He has worked for eight years with Seattle theater companies such as: The Group Theatre, On the Boards, The Bathhouse Theatre, Consolidated Work's "1448", and Theatre Schmeater. He has also been the Drama Assistant at Seattle Preparatory High School for five years where some of his designs have included Dead Man Walking and Honk!. He is grateful to be a part of an amazing YTN staff and production company.

Amanda Lee Williams, Education & Outreach Director

Amanda Lee Williams joined YTN as its Director of Education and Outreach in June 2005. Amanda has since created two new programs for time: the popular summertime Actors Conservatory Training (A.C.T.) Program, and Show to Go which brings plays into schools with no drama programs. She has also directed many plays here at YTN including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible No Good, Very Bad Day, Sideways Stories from Wayside School and Cinderella: Rockin' the 80s which she wrote and directed. After graduating with a B.A. in Theatre from Emory University in Atlanta, GA, Amanda moved to Seattle to work with the Seattle Children's Theatre. She has taught at the Seattle Children's Theatre, Studio East, Book-It All Over!, and at many schools around Seattle such as TOPS Elementary, AEII and Evergreen Academy. Amanda also toured as an actress with Book-It All Over! and Storybook Theatre. She currently does comedy and theatre around town and is a member of the improv group Dartmondo!

Nikki Przasnyski, Business Manager/Registrar

Nikki Przasnyski has been a member of the YTN family since 2004 and in her current position as Registrar/Business Manger since the summer of 2006. A 2003 graduate of the University of Washington School of Drama, she was the recipient of a Mary Gates Research Endowment (rarely given in the field of drama) for her studies in Physical Approaches to Acting and Directing. Nikki also kept busy at UW as the President of the Undergraduate Theatre Society, Artistic Director of the educational theatre group UWOnCue and as an actor and director. Throughout the past 10 years, she has worked with children in a variety of contexts, including tutoring at-risk youth, completing a teaching apprenticeship at the Seattle Children's Theatre, and of course Assistant Stage Managing at Youth Theatre Northwest. Nikki's administrative work as the Operations Manager for April Lane's Home Cleaning (winner of the Mayor's Award for the Top 10 Small Businesses in 2003) helped provide the expertise needed for the hustle and bustle of life as YTN's Business Manager/Registrar. When not at Youth Theatre Northwest, Nikki can be found producing, directing, and occasionally improvising in Seattle's thriving fringe theatre scene

Brendan Weinhold, Production Manager

Brendan Weinhold joined the YTN staff in 2007 as Production Manager. After graduating in 2004 from the University of Washington with his B.A. in Drama, he began working at YTN as an educator and stage manager. He works in all aspects of theatre in the greater Seattle area. His most recent projects have been: as an actor, Under Milkwood with Ray Burley Productions; as a director, Guys and Dolls at the International School in Bellevue; as a stage manager, Phantom Tollbooth at YTN; and as a dancer, He Goes Back to the House for a Book with Klichet. Brendan's primary interests are in creating original political ensemble theatre. To that end, he studies Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed and Bertolt Brecht. Brendan can juggle.