Professional Profile
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Actor, director and teacher with an MFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts
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Wide range of teaching experience with all ages and backgrounds, including many international groups, as well as all ages, from 6 to 60
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Specialties include Classical Texts, Scene Study, Acting Technique, Monologue work, Directing the Actor, On-Camera Audition Technique
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Students have gone on to achieve great success in TV, Film and Theatre and have been accepted into top training programs
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Extremely positive evaluations from all students
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Highly sensitive to the individual needs of each student, whether in the classroom or as a private coach. My goal is to give each student an experience of success through achievable challenges and encouragement, and to foster a sense of play, joy and improvisation.
Education
NYU Tisch School of the Arts / MFA Acting
Acting: Janet Zarish, Richard Feldman, Mark Wing-Davey, Cigdem Onat, Rosemarie Tichler; TV: Joanna Merlin; Film: Jay Anania
Directors include Rachel Chavkin, Mark Wing-Davey, Jerry Ruiz, Lisa Rothe, Jack Fletcher
Clowning: Chris Bayes; Movement: Jim Calder; Games: Giovanna Sardelli; Michael Chekhov: Joanna Merlin; Voice and Speech: Deb Hecht, Scott Miller, Bev Wideman, Shane-Ann Younts; Shakespeare: David Hammond; Devised work: Oskar Eustis
Barnard College, Columbia University / BA
Major: English Literature; Minor: Film Studies
National Alliance of Acting Teachers / Acting Teacher Congress
Workshops with Benny Ambush, Peter Jay Fernandez, Carol Rosenfeld, Fay Simpson, others
Honors and Awards
• NYU Recipient: Tony Kushner’s Sylvia Kushner Grant for Excellence
• Graduated Magna Cum Laude with Departmental Honors, Dean’s List all 4 years, from Barnard College
Relevant Experience
West Connecticut State University, Danbury, CT
Instructor / Fall 2017
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Taught semester-long class on Acting for TV/Film to college students pursuing their BFA
Stella Adler Conservatory, New York, NY
Instructor / Summer 2017
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Taught 10-week class on Acting for TV/Film to college students enrolled in the summer Acting program
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
Instructor / Fall 2016 - Present
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Teach a 13-week class on Directing to filmmaking students every fall
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Focus on communicating with actors and analyzing a script
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Taught rudiments of honest, clear storytelling
Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Florham Park, NJ
Instructor / June 2016 - present
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Taught an 8-week course on Shakespearean Text Analysis and Scene Study to college and graduate students enrolled in the training program, giving students an in-depth understanding of scansion, imaging, and acting the text and focusing on language as a revelation of character, making it visceral, personal, physical
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Co-taught fall weekend Shakespeare Intensive with Bonnie J. Monte, Artistic Director of the Theatre to professional actors, teaching Fundamentals of acting Shakespeare through monologue and scene work
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Will teach workshop to professional actors in the touring company as well as another Intensive with Bonnie Monte in Spring 2017
The Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education & Medical Affairs, NY NY
Standardized Patient / Summer 2016 – present
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Play the role of patients for the purposes of doctor training
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Evaluate and advise student doctors on bedside manner, including presence, communication skills, and professionalism
Artists Striving to End Poverty, NY NY
Instructor / July 2016 - present
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Teach 1-day workshops to 5-8 year olds living in shelters due to domestic violence
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Perform sonnets, teach games, and lead art projects
Stella Adler Conservatory, NY NY
Director / April – present
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Directed students in Robert Harling’s Steel Magnolias
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Process-oriented directing (rather than result-oriented); challenge students to find their characters through questions rather than commands
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Stage manage, schedule and organize rehearsals
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Meet with designers and oversaw all operations regarding production
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Will direct American realist play in Spring 2017
NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Stella Adler Studio, NY NY
Director / March 2016 – present
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Will direct American realist play to Tisch 3rd-year students in Spring 2017
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Directed Trojan Women in fall 2016
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Directed 3rd year BFA students in Beth Henley’s The Wake of Jamey Foster
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Process-oriented directing rather than result-oriented
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Stage manage, schedule and organize rehearsals
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Meet with designers and oversee all operations regarding production
Private Coach, NY NY
Acting Coach / July 2012 – present
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Coach students in person and over Skype for audition preparation and general craft
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Coach non-actors in public speaking for interviews, presentations, etc.
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Tailor lessons to the needs of individual students from ages 5 to 60
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Coach in specific subjects, including: auditions for film/TV, Shakespearean text analysis and performance, auditions for plays and musical theatre, auditions for college and graduate school, public speaking for non-actors
Educational Testing Service, Princeton, NJ
Voice-Over Actor / 2011 – present
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Read and record conversations and lectures as a Social Sciences professor for the TOEFL and other graduate school entrance exams’ listening portion
The Dalton School, NY NY
Instructor / May 2016
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Taught 2-day workshop on Michael Chekhov’s Psychological Gestures to juniors and seniors at NYC’s prestigious Dalton School
Colt-Coeur Theater Company, NY NY
Instructor / April 2016
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Co-Taught 1-week Monologue Workshop for Australian high school seniors with Charles Socarides (Section 1) and Adam Harrington (Section 2)
New York Film Academy, NY NY
Instructor / September 2013 – March 2016
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Taught 2nd years students text-based acting, both period and contemporary
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Taught 1st year students Scene Study, Voice, Text in Action, and Audition Technique
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Directed 1st year students in many one-act contemporary plays
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Directed 2nd year students in one full-length period drama (Antigone)
Goldengrove Academy, NY NY
Drama Instructor / April 2015
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Taught On-Camera Audition Technique through exercises, lecture, discussion and scene work to visiting Australian high school students in 3-day workshop
Taller Siglo XX Yolando Hurtado, Santiago Chile
Instructor / March - April 2015
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Taught On-Camera Audition Technique to professional Chilean actors and casting directors in week-long workshop
Scott Freeman Studio, NY, NY
Assistant / Summer 2013
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Assisted and shadowed Scott Freeman, founder and head teacher at Freeman Studio
The Princeton Review, Princeton, NJ
Tutor and Classroom teacher / 2001 – 2002
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Tutored high school students individually in SAT Verbal section
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Taught weekend workshops in SAT II Writing Skills Section
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Taught classes in SAT Verbal section
Ensemble Theatre Community School, Eagles Mere, PA
Acting Teacher / Summer 2000
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Taught classes to high school students at summer camp
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Taught and managed community outreach program to young children in the town
America Reads Program, P.S. 125, NY NY
Reading tutor / February – December 1998
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Tutored third graders, both individually and in groups, in basic reading skills
Professional Affiliations
• AEA/SAG-AFTRA
• BPSS NY State Teaching License
• Member, National Alliance of Acting Teachers (www.actingteachers.org)
• Company Member and Art Board Member, The Actors Company Theater (TACT)
• Founding member, Valpo Productions
Writing
• Contributor to www.health-warriors.com, including “How To Support a Student That Has an Invisible Illness"