Christina Howard is a graduate of UCLA’s School of Theatre. Her studies centered on acting, upon which she developed the foundation of her craft, but she also found other areas of interest that attracted her focus, including directing, writing, and producing. She did a stint with Sacramento Light Opera’s 1999 MUSIC CIRCUS season as an assistant costumer (A Chorus Line, West Side Story, 42nd Street) and was the co-festival coordinator of UCLA’s 2002 Theatrefest (producing nearly thirty productions in a three-day period,) before earning her Actor’s Equity card performing two full seasons with Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum (Juno, The Tempest; 1st Witch, Macbeth; Lucy, Bram Stoker’s Dracula; Rosalind u/s, As You Like It.)

Christina has managed to successfully balance her love of performing and writing/directing/producing by launching LOFT ensemble in 2007, a Viewpoints-based acting ensemble located in the downtown Los Angeles Artist’s District. As Co-Artistic Director of LOFT ensemble, Christina has overseen three original productions with LOFT: The LOFT ensemble Variety Hour, Naughty Nancy (her one-woman show she wrote and starred in), and The Why Factor: Proportion Distortion. She also produced and was seen onstage as Evelyn in Neil LaBute’s The Shape of Things, which Mr. LaBute attended in May of 2009, much to the delight of the ensemble.

Her passion for the Viewpoints was ignited while studying movement under Jacques Heim (artistic director of Diavolo dance company) and later honed her skills under Alexandra Billings of the Steppenwolf Theatre (whom she currently studies with today). After four years of working with directors to apply the Viewpoints to the rehearsal process, she is thrilled to bring her love of the Viewpoints to any actors looking to rekindle their own passions for this craft.

“Our industry is getting increasingly more challenging—it’s often hard to remember why we chose this path for ourselves. The Viewpoints gets me back into the present moment—back into the immense joy I have for this art. It refuses to allow me to wallow in my own bullshit, instead confronting me with my own fears and imagined limitations and DEMANDING I MOVE THROUGH THEM. The fear and inhibitions are never gone for good, but with the Viewpoints I can furiously and joyously face them, so I can share my understanding of the human condition with my audiences, my colleagues, and my characters.” –Christina Howard

In addition to her professional pursuits, Christina is a proud teacher for City Hearts: Kids Say “yes” to the Arts, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization that provides arts education for at-risk students all over Los Angeles. She has students in Highland Park, Eagle Rock, El Monte, and downtown L.A.’s skid row.

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