Kelsey Pietropaolo earned an M.A. in Theatre Studies from Montclair State University and a B.F.A. in Drama from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Some notable stage credits include: Not I (124 Bank Street Theatre), Orson’s Shadow (Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater), Rhinoceros (W.H.A.T), Blithe Spirit (Capital Repertory Theatre), Larvae (Alchemical), Crimes of the Heart (Fable Theatre), A Turn of the Screw (W.H.A.T.), Measure for Measure (Shakespeare Downtown), The Cherry Orchard (14th Street Y), A Hatful of Rain (Theatr Studio, Warsaw, Poland), and was a member of the Bruce E. Coyle Acting Intern Company at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park where she understudied roles in Circle Mirror Transformation, Peter and the Starcatcher, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, and others.
Kelsey was awarded the Bernard and Shirley Handel Playwriting Fellowship by Byrdcliffe Art Colony in 2017 for one act play The Octopus. Lonelyhearts, a one act play with music conceived with composer David Bird went up at Project Q in New York City in 2018. Later that year she won the Arts Universe Scholarship to attend the IUGTE Physical Theatre Workshop and International Theatre Conference in Leibnitz, Austria where she shared Lee Strasberg’s techniques. She directed Where Can I Hide? as part of Montclair State University’s C.A.R.T. Underground Series in Spring 2022. She is the executive producer for Alba Rosa Productions. Their first film My Darling Angel premiered at Montclair Film Festival and had its New York City Premiere at the IFC in Greenwich Village.
Kelsey has been a Method Acting teacher at the Institute since 2017. In addition, she teaches Theatre of the Absurd and Female Playwrights. She is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association.