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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, February 7, 2002

Honolulu Theatre for Youth getting a new director

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor

Louise King Lanzilotti, a curator at The Contemporary Museum, will become managing director of the Honolulu Theatre for Youth.

Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser

Louise Keali'iloma King Lanzilotti, an arts and culture advocate in schools and the community for three decades, will be the new managing director of the Honolulu Theatre for Youth, beginning in March.

Lanzilotti, 53, now curator of education at The Contemporary Museum, will join the triumvirate management team at HTY March 18 and will share artistic and fiscal responsibility with Mark Lutwak, artistic director, and Dan Kelin, director of drama education. Lanzilotti, daughter of Judge Sam King and Anne King, succeeds Jane Campbell, who is retiring after 42 years of service at HTY.

"We are thrilled to have Louise join HTY," said board president Candice Naito. "After an exhaustive national search, the board unanimously agreed that the talents and vision of this local director, educator, musician and arts leader are ideally suited to guide the organization forward."

Lanzilotti has been with The Contemporary Museum since 1988. She also has served as musical director for many Punahou School theatrical productions and senior class variety shows. A 1966 Punahou graduate, she attended the University of Michigan, majoring in music, and received a teaching certificate from the Dalcroze School of Music in New York City. She earned a bachelor's degree in music education and humanities from Goddard College in Barre, Vt., and completed graduate studies in arts education at the UH-Manoa.

Lanzilotti has taught kindergarten through grade 12, in subjects from music to drama, from English to math, and was a cellist with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra in 1966 and '67. Her roots in the arts community includes membership in the Hawai'i Arts Education Partners, the nation's first State Arts Education Partnership; serving on the board of the Hawai'i Museums Association.; being a presenter at the 2000 Governor's Conference on Arts Education; and serving as president of Punahou's Parent Faculty Association.

"I love all of the arts, and arts education is important to me," Lanzilotti said. "For me, this position is a new challenge on the administrative side. HTY has a wonderful history and a bright future. I hope to be able to use my background to create partnerships to move the theater ahead."

As curator of education at the museum, Lanzilotti said she is accustomed to surviving under extreme budgetary constraints. "You get good at solving problems — through partnerships and creative solutions," she said. "I worked on a partnership with the Hawai'i Opera Theatre. I hope to bring this kind of knowledge and experience to HTY."

Campbell, who will be on call during a transitional period, said of Lanzilotti: "Her balanced background is a strong match with HTY's dual mission to produce professional theater and drama education for young audiences."

Lanzilotti and husband Salvatore are parents of Anne, 18, and Nawahine, 13.