NEW YORK FACULTY

Gina Bonati has been teaching Method Acting since 2001. Early studies in Stanislavski’s Method from high school teacher, Lewis Campbell as well as ACT Young Conservatory led to further pursuit. In 1981 she moved to New York to earn a BFA from the Dance Division of The Juilliard School. While at Juilliard, she continued her acting studies, studying with John Stix. In 1982, she began studying Lee Strasberg’s Method Acting Technique with Sharon Chatten continuing with Sharon for years, Sharon being of most influence; further influences are Geraldine Baron and directors, Ildiko Nemeth, Lee Grant and Robert Woodruff. 

A lifetime member of the Actors Studio since 2003, she continues to bring work into sessions and holds her membership most dear. She has acted all over the world and counts her experience opening for the Centennial at The Strindberg Intima Theatre, Stockholm in August Strindberg’s The Stronger (directed by Lee Grant and Elizabeth Kemp) as one of her most memorable stage successes. She works as a theater artist with The New Stage Theatre. She creates Dance-Theater works in installation, dance, theater, image, and sound. She holds two master’s degrees. She teaches and creates work internationally. She loves the stage with all her heart.

Ignacio Borderes (aka Nacho) is a Psychologist / Actor / Director, originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he studied at the Fundación Julio Bocca and with director Luis Romero. He began his acting career in the “Buenos Aires Players” theatre group and made his TV debut on the hit teen TV show, Rebelde Way.  He directed several musicals in Argentina, as well as teaching acting in Bilingual Schools. His TV work in the United States includes roles in CBS’s Instinct, My Sordid Affair, I Love You… But I Lied, and Scorned. Nacho had a significant role as the main character in Metallica’s music video “Am I Savage?”, working closely with directors Herring & Herring. He had a lead role in the 2017 short film The Trial of Everett Mann (accepted at Cannes Short Film Corner as well as winning several Best Short and Best Actor awards in festivals worldwide) and he made his American feature film debut in the lead role of the 2018 release of “Into the Valli”. Off Broadway he performed in the psychological thriller “The Black Book”.  He recently wrote and directed his first movie “Christmas Summer” in Argentina. Nacho was a cast member of the Strasberg Institute 2015 production of Red Light Winter and traveled to Warsaw, Poland for the performance in the International Theatre Schools Festival (ITSelF.) Nacho has acted in more than 65 commercials in the past 3 years and done voice-over work in English and Spanish. Other professional background includes being an entrepreneur who started 2 companies in Argentina. 

Maria C Byers is elated to return home to LSTFI! She graduated with a BFA in drama from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, where she studied at LSTFI and the Experimental Theater Wing. She recently choreographed “State Fair,” “Hello,Dolly!” “Bye Bye Birdie,” and “Curtains”! Some other past favorites include: “Hairspray,” “The Producers”, “Anything Goes”, and “Oklahoma!” 

Onstage, She recently played Lorraine Flemming in a regional production of her favorite show, “42nd Street.” When she is not choreographing and performing, Maria is extremely passionate about theater education and also teaches at Stage Left Children’s Theater (Tappan, NY) and Young Peoples Theater Workshop (Swarthmore, Pa)

Sakile Camara graduated from Howard University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Arts with a concentration in Musical Theatre. Soon after graduation she performed at The Kennedy Center numerous times, as well as Arena Stage and other theatres in the DC area. A few of the shows she has been a part of have won and been nominated for Helen Hayes Awards. She has also worked on various projects as a Voice Actor for Graphic Audio, where she has worked on many graphic novels, including Black Panther where she portrayed Black Panther’s sister Shuri. She then moved to NYC and has had roles on TV in shows on NBC, Showtime and Comedy Central. Along with acting she is a teacher at Meisner in Music and has taught at Pace University’s School of the Performing Arts. She has been teaching for 12 years and has continued her training in the city with teachers such as Ted Wold, Christopher Bayes, Midori Nakamura, Heidi Marshall and others. She has also worked with directors Phylicia Rashad, Aaron Posner and Onur Tukel and has acted alongside Awkwafina, Natasha Lyonne and Anika Noni Rose. 

Nick Cianfrogna is a New York-based actor and teaching artist in speech and voice. He is graduate of NYU/Tisch and CAP21 with a BFA in Drama as well as the Kristin Linklater Voice Center in Orkney, Scotland where he became designated as a Linklater Teacher.  He teaches in the MFA program at Columbia University and in the BFA programs at The New School, CAP21/Molloy College, and the Lee Strasberg Institute at NYU. At CAP21 he was also the director of the Creative Ensemble Project that specialized in Voice, Movement, and Text. Nick’s talents specialize in dialect work, most notable with Emmy Award winner Ann Dowd for HBO’s The Leftovers, and with Jimmy Biberi for his role in the feature film Ocean’s 8.  He was the dialect coach for the University of Delaware’s REP production of Our Country’s Good, NYU’s Safety Net (dir. Young Jean Lee), and numerous Off-Broadway productions. He assisted Susan Cameron with her book Perfecting Your English Pronunciation, published by McGraw-Hill, and recently recorded voice over for the 2nd edition. Nick also teaches accent reduction to students from around the world. As an actor, Nick has worked in television, online media, film, and stage. He can be seen in the short film The Professor, starring Betsy Brandt of Breaking Bad. He also starred in the web series Handsome Town and guest starred in Chaos Theory, both airing online at phoebetv.com.  Nick is also is the creator and host of the YouTube cooking show Fantasy Food Show.

Susan Grace Cohen is a graduate of the Juilliard School. Formerly a professor at NYU/Tisch Film & TV Department, Ms. Cohen has been a faculty member at The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute for over 15 years. In October, 2008, Ms. Cohen was honored to represent the United States in the work of Lee Strasberg, at the international Methodic Theatrical Festival in Tuscany. Guest master acting teachers and directors were represented from throughout the world. Ms. Cohen’s former students include James Gandolfini (Sopranos), Linda Hamilton (Terminators 1 & 2,) Karen Allen (Raiders of the Lost Arc), James Spader (Sex, Lies and Videotape, Boston Legal), Melora Walters (Boogie Nights, Magnolia and Big Love (HBO), Mel Harris (Thirtysomething), Justin Chambers (Grey’s Anatomy) Heather Juergensen (Kissing Jessica Stein), and most recently, Sarah Burns, (I Love You, Man). She is author of Bridging the Gap, Student to Professional Actor, and is a contributing essayist to Soul of the American Actor. Recently, Ms. Cohen received the James L. Hearst Guest Lecturer Award in the Arts and Humanities at the University of Northern Iowa. A newly published book entitled: Acting Teachers of America interviews Ms. Cohen about her studies with and teaching for Lee Strasberg. Susan teaches Method Acting at LSTFI.

Lola Cohen trained with Lee Strasberg during the last 5 years of his life and has taught Method Acting for 31 years at the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute in NY and LA and in private classes.  Lola is an NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Strasberg Faculty member. After Lee’s death, Lola continued her training with Method actress/teacher Kim Stanley and the acclaimed director Jose Quintero. She has trained and directed multitudes of actors in scenes and plays during her career in the theater.  As a member of Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Review, Lola made her film debut in, Renaldo and Clara in 1975 and in 2009 played Judge Kaplan in Rik Cordero’s Inside a Change, which won best film at HBO’s Latino International Film Festival in 2010. Lola’s directorial credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the Woodstock Youth Theater; Jean Genet’s The Maids at the Strasberg Institute and Lewis John Carlino’s Snow Angel while at the 2009 Artist-in-Residence at SUNY-Ulster. Lola is also an Associate Adjunct Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School where for the last fifteen years she has taught her class “Intensive Communication Skills for Attorneys”.  Lola’s first book, The Lee Strasberg Notes (Routledge, 2010) was done in close cooperation with the Strasberg family and is in multiple printings. Lola’s second book, The Method Acting Exercises Handbook, was published by Routledge in 2017. Lola has lectured at Pratt Institute, The National Film School of Denmark, The Stanislavski Museum/Moscow and has taught Master Classes at The American University in Washington, D.C. from where she was graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in education. Lola was awarded with a Fulbright Specialist Scholar designation, 2017-2020. She has conducted additional Master Classes internationally in Milan, IT; Lisbon, PO; Copenhagen, DK; Moscow, RU and at the Chekhov International School, Melikhovo, RU where she serves on the faculty.
“Woodstocker Lola Cohen on Teaching Acting in Russia”

Carmela Corbett is an actress, writer and producer who sings. A dual citizen of the UK & USA, she grew up in London and went on to study acting at The Lee Strasberg Institute in New York City followed by The Juilliard School. She has performed on stage in major theatres in London’s West End and in both New York and Los Angeles. On-screen, she has appeared as Lola in the BBC series Undercover, and in the final season of the highly popular Mad Men. 

In October 2020, Carmela wrote, produced and starred in the British drama short film, Her Majesty, executive produced by Pete Townshend and directed by Rebekah Fortune. The film premiered at the Oscar/BAFTA qualifying LA Shorts 2021 and is a selection of the BAFTA qualifying Norwich Film Festival in the UK. Most recently Carmela won a best actress award for her work in the film at both The Strasberg film festival and the Midlands Film Awards UK. The film won Best Drama Short from the New Renaissance Film festival and Best of the Fest from Strasberg festival 2022. Carmela’s stage play version of Her Majesty was recently shortlisted into the top 1% by the BBC writers room 2021 (“as close to contemporary as possible… a unique piece of writing that finds the best in people without being sentimental”). 

In 2019 Carmela co-wrote, produced and starred in the pilot episode of DAUGHTERHOOD, a comedy set in Los Angeles and directed by Cecilia Albertini. It also features Evan Handler and Carolyn Hennesy and premiered at The HollyShorts Festival 2020. Her writing projects have been officially selected in numerous major international writing competitions such as the Academy Award Qualifying HollyShorts Screenwriting competition, Sundance New Voices Lab, ScreenCraft, Shore Scripts and Write LA. 

Carmela is extremely passionate about supporting women who have experienced, or who are currently experiencing domestic abuse and she is a Women’s Aid Community Ambassador. She is currently working on a play dealing with this subject. She is the director of production company, Corbett Productions, and lives in New York City where she mentors and teaches emerging performers both privately and in a class setting. www.carmelacorbett.com

Vincent D’Onofrio studied Method Acting at The American Stanislavsky Theater and The Actors Studio. Between his work in the industry, he holds StrasbergTALKS and masterclasses at The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. The Vincent D’Onofrio Award is also given at the school each year to recognize a current Institute student who embodies the characteristics of this great and versatile performer.

An acclaimed film and television actor, Vincent D’Onofrio is known best for his roles in Full Metal Jacket, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Men in Black. Among other honors, D’Onofrio is a Saturn Award winner, an Emmy nominee, and a 2018 Jay Award winner. In addition to his success as an actor, D’Onofrio also boasts credits as a producer and director. Most recently, he directed the 2019 feature film The Kid, starring Ethan Hawke and Chris Pratt.

As a teacher and director, Robert Ellermann was influenced by Lee Strasberg, Robert (Bobby) Lewis, Kim Stanley, Frank Corsaro, David Garfield, Maria Knebel and Nikolai Demidov. In addition, he studied directing with Jack O’Brien, Adrian Hall, Michael Kahn and Gerald Freedman. Robert also worked with teachers directly certified by Mikhail Chekhov in the 1930’s to teach Chekhov’s work: Deidre Hurst du Prey, Felicity Mason and Beatrice Straight. In addition, Robert had the honor of knowing the last surviving original member of the Moscow Art Theatre’s seminal First Studio – Vera Soloviova. Madame Soloviova was one of Stanislavsky’s earliest students (starting in 1908) and the peer, acting partner and friend of Richard Boleslavsky. Yevgeny Vakhtangov, Mikhail Chekhov and Maria Ouspenskaya. Robert was able to discuss the work of Stanislavsky, Vakhtangov, Sulerzhitsky and Mikhail Chekhov, particularly their use of the ‘system’, with Madame Soloviova. Over the last five decades, Robert has exhaustively researched the work of Lee Strasberg, covering Strasberg’s nearly 60 year career; as well as, the profound influence of Stanislavsky in the US and Russian-Soviet-Russian theatres, especially the work of the Group Theatre and the various studios of the Moscow Art Theatre. In the former Soviet Union, the leading Stanislavsky scholar, Inna Soloviova, humorously referred to him as “the American Stanislavsky fanatic”. In 1983, he was invited by Robert Lewis to serve as co-director of the Robert Lewis Theatre Workshop in Los Angeles. In 1988, Robert was invited by Stanislavsky’s great-great grandson to the first International Stanislavsky Conference in Paris and in 1990 Robert was invited to the Soviet Union by the Moscow Art Theatre to observe classes and rehearsals in the leading Russian theatres and schools. In 2021, Robert introduced Lee Strasberg’s Method to the Russian Academy of Theatrical Art (formly GITIS) in Moscow via Zoom classes. Robert has taught private classes in New York, Los Angeles, Tucson and Houston. He is currently working on a book about the relationship between the work of Lee Strasberg and that of Konstantin Stanislavsky. Over the years, Robert has directed the plays of Michael Weller, Clifford Odets, Tennessee Williams, David Rabe and Horton Foote, among others. At the Institute, Robert presented a production of Anton Chekhov’s “Three Sisters” after an intensive six month rehearsal process. Robert teaches Method Acting, Stanislavsky to Strasberg, The History of the Method Acting in Film and Strasberg and Scene Analysis.

Accompanist

Robert  is a pianist, conductor, and composer working in the New York musical theatre and teaching community. As a musician, his Broadway credits include shows with such artists as Bernstein, Sondheim, Kander & Ebb, Yeston, Arthur Laurents, Baayork Lee, and Thommie Walsh. As a writer, he has produced many songs, musicals, revues, recordings, and songbooks with collaborator Anya Turner. Their Off-Broadway musicals “Greetings From Yorkville” and “After All, a musical much ado” were both named finalists for the Richard Rodgers Award. Recent choral events include the GenOUT teen chorus performing their song “Caitlyn” in concert with the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington D.C. Their partnership is also the subject of the recent music documentary “Dream On, a songwriting life” by filmmaker Bill Hopkins. Recipients of a Bistro Award, several ASCAP awards, and a grant from Meet the Composer, Robert & Anya are currently recording a new CD entitled “Listen”. 

Jackob Hofmann has been working professionally in theatre since the early 1990s. His NY directing credits include an array of Off-Broadway productions and staged readings for Abingdon Theatre including the NY premieres of John Morogiello’s Engaging Shaw (NY Times Critics’ Pick) and Blame it on Beckett. Additional NY directing credits include productions of: Unwrap Your Candy, Tower of Toys, Xavier Speaks, Tracking Gertrude Tredwell, and The Speed Date. Notable acting credits include Theatre Row productions of: Marat/Sade, Holy Ghosts, Dark of the Moon, Footprints on the Moon, and The Tempest. Also a playwright, Jackob’s drama, A Persistent Memory, was produced Off-Broadway at The Beckett Theatre, in 2016, by MBL Productions. He is a two time finalist in Samuel French’s OOB Short Play Festival. Honored to be a faculty member at The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, Jackob also works as an adjunct theatre professor/director at Fairfield University. His Theatre Fairfield directing credits include: Avenue Q, Rhinoceros, Authenticity, The Thanksgiving Play, and Silent Sky. Jackob graduated with his BFA from The New School and his MFA from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. AEA, SAG-AFTRA, SDC

Jacqueline Jacobus was born in Paris and spent her early years in France and England. When 17, she had the great good fortune to begin her acting studies with Lee Strasberg in his private classes in NYC. Several years later, she became a member of the Actors Studio, where she had the opportunity to work with and be influenced by directors such as Arthur Penn, Elia Kazan, and Vivian Nathan, just to mention a few. As a young actress, she worked extensively in TV, Film, and the theater, both in NYC and Regionally. As a member of The Ensemble Studio Theater she worked along side of playwrights such as Jonathan Ringkamp, Rommulus Linney, and Lyle Kessler as they developed their scripts. Favorite roles were Laura in the The Glass Menagerie, Kim in Mama Sang the Blues, Nina in The Seagull, Florrie in Waiting for Lefty, Emily in Our Town, The Whore in La Ronde, Titania in Midsummer Summer Night’s Dream, Portia in The Merchant of Venice just to mention a few. Most recently she played Marty in Annie Baker’s Circle, Mirror, Transformation.

Jacqueline has been teaching acting, and specifically The Method as it was taught to her by Lee Strasberg, for the last 10 years. She is an accomplished pianist who treasures the literature for the piano as much as the literature for the actor.

Tate Kenney is a working actress and teaching artist. She holds an Honors Bachelor’s degree in English and Film from the University of Western Ontario and graduated from the Two Year conservatory program at LSTFI NY, where she was the recipient of the Vincent D’Onofrio scholarship award. Since graduating, Tate has worked steadily on numerous film and television shows and taught in the Young Actors program at LSTFI NY. She’s currently filming Season 13 of CBS’ Blue Bloods with Bridget Moynahan and Donnie Wahlberg. Tate is also a lead walker in the premiere episode of AMC’s new Walking Dead spin-off, Dead City, coming spring 2023 and she plays Chloe Jones in Rian Johnson’s Poker Face starring Natasha Lyonne and Joseph Gordon-Levitt which premieres January 26th on Peacock. In her spare time, she keeps a small roster of private coaching clients. For more on Tate, visit www.tatekenney.com.

Michael Kushner is NYC’s leading multi-hyphenate and the Executive Producer of the EMMY Nominated series Indoor Boys. In true multi-hyphenate form, Michael’s book How to be a Multi-Hyphenate in the Theatre Business, published by Routledge Publishing is arriving fall of 2022. He served as the Director of Programming for The Green Room 42, providing the space with sold out programming post pandemic. He is the owner of Michael Kushner Photography and has photographed Hillary Clinton, Julie Andrews, Idina Menzel (to name a few) and has been published in NYTimes, Vogue, Playbill, etc. He is also the creator of The Dressing Room Project, where he photographs actors prepping for their roles on and off Broadway. Ithaca College BFA in Musical Theatre (2020 Outstanding Young Alumni Award), Founding member of Musical Theatre Factory. Exec Producer of XaveMePlease (Created by Wesley Taylor, Frameline 43 Festival Finalist). Active participant of Covenant House Sleep Out. Podcast: Dear Multi-Hyphenate with Broadway Podcast Network. Michael is also a performer (On The Town, Pre-Broadway Tryout Directed by John Rando at Barrington Stage) and a member of AEA.

George Loros won the SAG Award in 2000 for Best Ensemble as a member of the cast of The Sopranos, in which he played the role of Ray Curto for six seasons. George received a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the New York Film Fest 2004 for his portrayal of Harvey in Clean, which won the Best Film Award in 2004. As Mitch in Mitch and Barbara, George won the Cine Golden Eagle as Best Actor in a Short Film, 1972. George has performed and directed on Broadway, Off Broadway and with theatres across the country. As a director, George won the Dramalogue Award – Best Director for The Phone Call, 1978, and Prowlers, 1979, both done at the Los Angeles Actors’ Theatre. George studied with Lee Strasberg and is a Method Acting teacher at The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute. He directed the Alumni production of Tennessee Williams’ Period of Adjustment in October 2012. George has been acting for 45 years, and teaching for 42 years. He is a member of Actor’s Equity, SAG/AFTRA, the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, The Actor’s Studio, and is a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. For more info, go to georgeloros.com.

Mike Magliocca is a fight director, actor, and Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors. His work performing and choreographing violence has taken to many venues and productions, including The Public’s Shakespeare in the Park, The New Ohio Theatre, and the MET Opera. He is a lead instructor at Neutral Chaos – New York’s largest private stage combat studio, and has teaching experience at many universities in NYC. With an MFA in Acting from Brooklyn College as well as experience in intimacy direction, stunts, and other movement/martial disciplines, Mike draws from an array of tools to best equip students for performing staged combat in the industry today.

Midori is a Designated Linklater Voice Teacher. She has taught Voice for the Maggie Flanagan Studio, Molloy/CAP21, New York Conservatory for the Dramatic Arts, and the New York Film Academy, as well as coaching private clients in both acting and voice. As an actor, she has worked in film, TV, on Broadway, Off-Broadway, for Shakespeare in the Park, at the Kennedy Center, at the RSC, and in regional theater—working with George C. Wolfe (three times), Philip Seymour Hoffman (three times), Alec Baldwin (two times). She has also acted alongside Anthony Hopkins, Patrick Stewart, Angela Bassett, Bill Irwin, Keanu Reeves, Michael C. Hall, Liev Schrieber, Karen Allen, Del Close, Kim Cattrall, Jennifer Anniston. Directors she has acted under include Morgan Freeman, Lena Dunham, Barry Levenson, Peter Sellars, Nicholas Hytner, Austin Pendleton, James Lapine, Jerzy Grotowski, Joe Chaikin. Midori co-directed, co-produced, and co-edited T’an Bakhtale, a documentary about the Russian Roma, which received awards from the American Association of Anthropology and the Royal Anthropological Institute. She assisted Karen Allen in her directorial debut, A Tree, A Rock, A Cloud.

Ron NaVarre has been teaching at The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute for more than twenty years. As an actor, dancer, singer, director and choreographer, Ron has worked on Broadway, Off-Broadway, in Regional Theater, Film, Television, Commercials, and Industrial Theater. As an adjunct Professor, Ron has taught tai chi at Fordham University at Lincoln Center, New York University, and the Pacific Institute of Chinese Medicine. Along with Madeline Jaye he is also the co-creator of Actors Launch, an audition prep and career guidance training program for actors and performing artists. Ron is the founder of Stress Defense, Inc. and has taught seminars on stress management, self-healing and effective communication to fortune 500 companies and health clubs. A lifelong martial artist he has trained in Tang Soo Do, TaeKwon Do, Hapkido, Aikido and Tai Chi Chuan. In the healing arts, Ron has taught mindfulness meditation, yoga, tai chi, qigong, Reiki and Rei Qong for over thirty years. For the last ten years, Ron had been working with cancer patients and post surgical patients as an energy therapist and spiritual counselor.

Alex Notkin was born in St. Petersburg (Leningrad), Russia to a family of doctors (Efim and Olga Notkin). He graduated from The Saint Petersburg State Theatre Arts Academy. His early career includes both theatre and film roles. He starred as Roland Cassard in Michel Legrand’s musical “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg”, The Author in “The Letters of Vertinsky”, Alex Incub in crime TV series “Goodbye Makarov”, Lt. Voytkevich in feature film “Dry Valley” , Detective Egor Mitrokhin in TV Series “I Believe Him”, TV series “The Streets of the Shattered Lanterns”, “Strange Neighborhood”, “Liteyny, 4”. In addition to his theatre and film works Alex became a renowned voice talent. He was cast to perform Russian Dubbing for the voices of: Christian Bale in “Terminator 4, Salvation”, Sam Worthington in James Cameron’s “Avatar”, Colin Farrell in Disney’s “Fright Night” and “Saving Mr. Banks”, Benedict Cumberbatch in “The Fifth Estate”. In 2014 Alex Notkin came to the U.S. to pursue his acting career. He completed a 1 year Conservatory Program at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, New York. His American Projects include Films and TV shows: “Madam Secretary”, “The Americans”, “Sheepshead”, “A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing”, Theatre productions: “Green Card, the New Musical”, “ART”, “Raskolnikov and the Pawnbroker, Love Story” Alex has also directed the following productions in New York: ‘ART’, by Yasmina Reza -Marilyn Monroe Theatre (Lee Strasberg); ‘I Remember It Well’- Strasberg Works project – Irma Sandrey Theatre; ‘Defendant Maurice Chevalier’ – an Off Broadway Production, The American Theatre of Actors.  

Charles Nuckolls is a writer, director and producer of theatre, film and television. His programming has been seen on national cable, PBS and local broadcast networks. La MaMa, The Blank Theatre and Ensemble Studio Theatre have presented his theatrical productions in Los Angeles and New York. His other exhibitions include Urbanworld Film Festival, Newport Beach Film Festival, Williamstown Film Festival, Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid; Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin; Video Frontiers Festival, Perugia; The New Foundation, Seattle; and PRX- Public Radio Exchange.

His awards include: Emmy Award Nomination, National Academy of Television Arts And Sciences; Best Documentary, National Federation of Local Cable Programmers; Silver Cindy Award, Association of Visual Communicators; Best Long Documentary; New York University Video Festival – Two Consecutive Years. His foundation support includes grants from the American Film Institute and the Writers Guild of America.

He has developed work in Europe, Asia, North America and the Caribbean and teaches film at the School for Visual Arts in New York and dramatic writing at The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.  He holds a BFA in Film and Television Production from Tisch School for the Arts, New York University, a MA in Theatre from Hunter College and is a member of the Playwrights/Directors Unit of TheActors Studio and The Dramatists Guild.

Azudi Onyejekwe is a Brooklyn-based artist, educator, justice advocate, and proud first-generation Igbo-American. As an actor, he has performed in numerous productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and at multiple Tony award-winning regional theatres across the country including the Guthrie Theatre, Williamstown Theater Festival, and the American Repertory Theater. He is a member of the original Broadway casts of “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812” and “Violet” (where he was the standby for the role of Flick opposite Sutton Foster). His TV/Film credits include “Madam Secretary” and HairBrained. Azudi holds an honors degree from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, with a double major in Theatre and Africana Studies. As a writer and justice advocate, his most recent essay which he penned for The Theatre Times in the wake of the murder of George Floyd (“The Dangers of Optical Illusionary Performative Activism”), was translated and republished by Korean Theatre Journal, the official association of the Korean Association of Theatre Critics. In addition to LSTFI, Azudi is also on the acting faculties of Molloy College/CAP21 and LIU-Brooklyn/The New Group Education. He also serves as a vocal coach for Voice Academy NYC and a teaching fellow for Musical Mentors Collaborative (a non-profit arts program devoted to providing free access to professional instruction for young people from systemically marginalized communities). Azudi privately coaches monologue work, audition prep, and vocal performance. 

Hayley is an actor, educator, director, and dancer striving toward the embodiment of freed expression in safe, inclusive spaces. A California native, Hayley has taught Acting, Improvisation, Voice, and Speech since moving to NYC in 2016. After several years of dancing professionally for the California Ballet Company in San Diego, Hayley attended the University of California Irvine where they fell in love with improv and eventually earned their M.F.A. in Acting. Hayley went on to become the Swing and Dance Captain in the National Touring company of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, and upon moving to NYC played Lady Macbeth in over 250 performances of the immersive Off-Broadway comedy Drunk Shakespeare. Professional credits include PCPA Theaterfest, New Swan Shakespeare Festival, Davis Shakespeare Festival, and Moonlight Stage Productions. Most recently, Hayley was onstage at Mill Mountain Theatre playing Alison in Fun Home and Tanya in Mamma Mia! Hayley will be designated in Linklater Voice Summer of 2023. (AEA, SAG-AFTRA) www.hayleypalmer.me

Lorca Peress has been on the LSTFI Faculty since 2000, and NYU-Strasberg Faculty since 2001. Lorca is a director and performer specializing in new works. She is the Founder/Artistic Director of MultiStages, a multicultural, multidisciplinary company that has developed new works since 1997. She has directed over 50 theatre, opera, and musical productions in NYC (The Public Theatre, Signature Theatre, The Acorn at Theatre Row, Theatre for the New City, et al), and at Strasberg and other universities. Lorca performed and toured for many years as an actor and singer. Awards and Grants include: 2017 Institute of Puerto Rico Award, NYMF 2017 Next Link Project, Women in Arts & Media Collaboration Awards, National Opera Prizes, 2015 Taino Areito Award, HOLA Zaldivar Outstanding Production Award, Manhattan Community Arts Grants (LMCC/DCA), Dramatists Guild Fund Award, La MaMa Inky Award. She was Co-President of the League of Professional Theatre Women (2011-14), and a featured panelist and moderator for theatre organizations focused on diversity and gender parity. She curated NYU hotINK Festivals for Strasberg (2002-10), and served 2 years on NYU Production Committee. A graduate of Bennington College (BA in Drama) and National Theatre Institute. Professional studies with Shelly Winters, Gene Frankel, Leonard Melfi, and at LSTFI with Irma Sandrey and Charlie Laughton, and YAP. Unions/Member: AEA, SAG-AFTRA, SDC, LPTW, NTC.

Heather Petruzelli has appeared with New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players,  The Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, The Astoria Music Society’s Big Band, Opera With a Twist, Cantiamo Opera, Liederkranz Opera Theater, Henry Street Opera, New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera, The Astoria Symphony, Opera Northeast, The Opera Company of Astoria,  The Civic Orchestra of Northeastern Pennsylvania, and as part of the Simply Grand Concert Series radio broadcast presented by WVIA of Northeastern Pennsylvania. She has performed and taught many styles from classical to musical theatre. Ms. Petruzelli serves as the Head of Voice and Music for the Molloy College/CAP21BFA Program and has taught for the former CAP21 since 2008. She also has been teaching at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy of NYC since 2001. Ms. Petruzelli holds a BM from Wilkes University and a MM in Voice Performance from Boston University where she studied with the late Phyllis Curtin. Ms. Petruzelli is an Equity Membership Candidate. Additionally, Heather is a certified Positive Psychology Life Coach.

Sarah Rayani is a professional singer, dancer and vocal coach. She specializes in speech and accent reduction and teaching the dialects of the British Isles. Sarah received her MA in the Practice of Voice and Singing from the Guildford School of Acting in her native United Kingdom. Sarah feels passionately about drawing on wisdom from both the speech and singing sides of the voice world in order to make her student’s healthy and effective professionals. Sarah performed as both a solo artist and as the lead singer of Blue On Wax for seven years, appearing at numerous venues in New York City as well as in the UK. Sarah also has recording and songwriting credits. She has appeared in various music videos as well as Sex and the City 2.

A native of New York, Michelle is an accomplished dancer, actress and director. As a dancer, she began her training at The Dance Theatre of Harlem. As early as her pre-teens, she became a member of the Marie Brooks Children’s Dance Theater, a professional children’s dance company devoted to researching dance forms from other countries. She has had the opportunity to travel to such places as Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad, Martinique, Suriname, Ghana, Italy and Brazil. The recipient of the coveted Harry Belafonte Performing Arts Scholarship, she went on to attend the State University of New York at Purchase where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. After graduation, her talents were sought after by many prestigious dance companies: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, The Bucket Dance Theater, The Dance Theatre of Harlem and The Eleo Pomare Dance Company. But that was only until she set her sights on Broadway.

From Europe to Broadway, Ms. Robinson has appeared in such musical theater productions as Ain’t Misbehavin’, Can-Can, For Colored Girls…, Jelly’s Last Jam, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Sophisticated Ladies, They’re Playing Our Song, Sweet Charity, The Tempest, and the smash Broadway musical revival of Chicago where she remained an original cast member for the first twelve years. In addition, she has had the opportunity to work alongside such notables as Bebe Neuwirth, Gregory Hines, Patrick Stewart, Joel Grey, Debbie Allen, Melanie Griffith, and Brooke Shields, just to name a few. Ms. Robinson admits that one of her most memorable show biz moments was becoming a Radio City Rockette. She acknowledges that nothing gave her as much joy and pleasure as when her mother could say, “Now, no matter where my child is on that kick line, I will be able to find her!” No stranger to film and television, her television credits include appearances on Deadline, Law and Order, New York Undercover, Third Watch, and HBO’s Lackawanna Blues. Ms. Robinson has also had a long running, recurring role on the daytime soap opera, One Life to Live. On film, she can be seen in Spike Lee’s Malcolm X, Flawless starring Robert DeNiro, and Chris Rock’s cult movie Pooty Thang.

Tom Rowan is a playwright, author, and director. He has taught for NYU/Stella Adler Studio and
TVI, Inc., among other studios. His many directing credits include A Little Night Music, A
Midsummer Night’s Dream (Denver Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Director), Landscape
of the Body (Westword Award for Best Director), Master Class, Fifth of July, Coastal
Disturbances, and the fortieth anniversary New York production of A Chorus Line (Queens
Kudos Awards for Best Director and Best Production of a Musical, 2016). He has directed
eighteen full productions of Shakespeare plays for venues including The Mirror Players,
Princeton Rep, Theater 1010, and the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. Tom is the author of the
books A Chorus Line FAQ: All That’s Left to Know About Broadway’s Singular Sensation, and
Rent FAQ: All That’s Left to Know About Broadway’s Blaze of Glory, both published by
Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. His produced plays include Kiss and Cry, The Second
Tosca, and David’s Play (all recently published by Next Stage Press), The Blue Djinn, and Faye
Drummond. Tom has an MFA in Directing from the University of Washington School of Drama
and completed a directing fellowship with the Drama League. He is a lifetime member of The
Ensemble Studio Theatre, where he has worked as Literary Manager and Casting Director; he
has also done casting for other companies, including the Nebraska Shakespeare Festival, Austin
Shakespeare, and Urbanite Theatre of Sarasota. www.TomRowan.net

Michael Kevin Ryan trained as a dancer with Martha Graham, Hanya Holm and Merce Cunningham. As an actor he has worked extensively in his native Australia as well as Germany where he studied with Eugenio Barba and Jerzy Grotowski. In New York he was a long-standing company member of Creation Production Company, with whom he created lead roles in Chromatic Spectacles, Ice Station Zebra, The OBIE Award winning Abandon, The Bessie Award winning Memory Theatre of Guilio Camillo, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Propaganda, Nighttown, The Inferno, The Tower and most recently in Man Made at The Ohio Theater NY. Also in New York: Uncontrollable Elements at The Kitchen, his own The Pasolini Tapes at The Knitting Factory and Enter The Dragon at Second Stage and Escalator, a performance piece for the architects Diller and Scofidio at The Museum of Modern Art. At the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute NY, where he has been on the faculty for 18 years he has directed John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi and a Shakespeare adaptation midnight’s dream as well as his original pieces Moist Tiny Elephants and Eveningland. He has also taught Movement / Feldenkrais for The Tisch School for the Arts NYU, Strasberg LA, The School for Film and TV/NY and Fordham University at Lincoln Center. He is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner (2002-2006 training with David Zemach-Bersin, Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais’ 1st American student) He maintains a private coaching business in both NY, LA and London working with actors for Film and TV. Among his recent clients have been Josh Bowman (Revenge, Time After Time) Adria Arjona (True Detective, Emerald City and Good Omens) and Henry Garrett (Poldark, The Son).

Dana Shulman is an improviser, actor, teacher, coach, and silly long distance runner.  She is a faculty member, producer, and performer at The Peoples Improv Theater (The PIT) and is a founding member of independent improv team Student Driver (est. 2010). Dana is a proud member of ComedySportz NYC and one of the co-founders of Socially Distant Improv.  She has been teaching cool humans of all ages for more than a decade and is thrilled and honored to be joining the team at The Lee Strasberg Institute.

Jimmy was most recently seen as Thenardier on the National tour of Les Miserables and as Jacey Squires in The Music Man at The Kennedy Center. Broadway: Billy Elliot, The Little Mermaid, To Be or Not To Be, Damn Yankees (Encores), The Phantom of the Opera, Man of La Mancha, The Full Monty. Television: Doom Patrol (recurring), Black Monday (recurring), Erase (opposite Denis Leary), The Sopranos, Better Things, Corporate, Oh Jerome No, Brooklyn Nine Nine, Greys Anatomy, Bones, Rizzoli and Isles, Parks and Recreation, Hot in Cleveland, Law & Order: SVU, Sam and Cat, Jessie. Film: Rebel in the Rye, The Island, Step Up 3, The Producers Movie Musical. 

J. Allen Suddeth has worked professionally for the past thirty years out of the New York area. For Broadway, he has staged fights for the current smash hits Pretty Woman, Disney’s Aladdin, and Newsies plus the recent revival production of Jekyll and Hyde, as well as Gem Of The Ocean, Saturday Night Fever, Jekyll & Hyde, Angels in America Part One and Two, Loot, Saint Joan, A Small Family Business, and Hide and Seek. Off-Broadway he has worked on productions for The Manhattan Theater Club, Playwrights Horizons, The New Group, Theater For A New Audience, The Public Theater, BAM, The Women’s Project, Ensemble Studio Theater, Second Stage, Riverside Shakespeare, Jean Cocteau Repertory, Cleveland Playhouse, The Alliance Theatre, Regional/LORT Theaters, WestBeth, The Pearl Theater, Cherry Lane Theatre, and the New York Theater Workshop.  Regionally, and in LORT theater he has worked for Centerstage in Baltimore (over 70 productions), The Arena Stage and The Shakespeare Theater in Washington, D. C., as well as The Denver Center, The Huntington Theatre, The Papermill Playhouse, The Hartford Stage, The Goodman Theater, The Actor’s Theater Of Louisville and The Cincinnati Playhouse In The Park, Seattle Repertory Theatre, The Northshore Music Theater, and the Big Apple Circus, among many others. 

As a master teacher, Allen has been on faculty for The Juilliard School, Mason Gross School of The Arts at Rutgers University, The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, S.U.N.Y. Purchase College, and The Stella Adler Conservatory, as well as being a frequent guest artist at major universities in the US and abroad. For television, he has staged action sequences for over 750 programs on ABC, CBS, NBC, and HBO. He is the author of Fight Directing For The Theater, published by Heinemann Press.  Allen has also taught at the National Stage Combat Workshop, currently at U.N.C.S.A., for over fifteen years, and is the founder of the National Fight Directors Training Program. Allen is also a producer of The Complete Unarmed Stage Combat DVD Library. He has trained over 10,000 students, and tested many thousands more. He is ranked as one of seventeenth recognized Fight Masters in the United States by The Society of American Fight Directors. He is also a “Fellow” and Life Member of the British Academy of Dramatic Combat and an Honorary Fight Master with Fight Directors Canada.

Accompanist

Noriko Sunamoto is an award-winning composer, orchestrator and music director based in New York. Broadway: for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf (Associate Conductor), Paradise Square (Keys Sub), Funny Girl (Rehearsal Pianist, Keys Sub), The Griswolds’ Broadway Vacation (in the works, Rehearsal Pianist). U.S. Notable: Radio City Christmas Spectacular 2021 (Standby Conductor, Keyboardist), Pixar in Concert with Modesto Symphony Orchestra, Debbie Allen’s Playlist with Oakland Symphony. Broadway National Tour: White Christmas (Associate MusicDirector), Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Associate Music Director). International (Tokyo Broadway): Mamma Mia!, The Phantom of the Opera, Wicked. International Notable: Jason Howland’s musical Ikiru (Conductor), Tokyo Disney. Upcoming: White Rose: The Musical (Music Director). Her original musicals include OMOTENASHI Journey (at Carnegie Hall and Central Park) and The Journey of the True Colors (at Tokyo Rainbow Pride.) www.norikosunamoto.com @norikosunamoto

BFA Point Park College, Pittsburgh Pa.; MFA Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. John has served as the dialect coach for many of Tisch Drama StageWorks productions including The Who’s Tommy, Cabaret, Ragtime, Born Bad, The Secret Garden, Engaged, and Blue Stockings. John’s coaching credits at various Department of Drama’s studios include: Top Girls, Mad Forest, Cloud Nine, Our Country’s Good, Dancing at Lughnasa, The Norman Conquests, Nine and many others. Professional coaching credits include the Cirque du Soleil production of Zarkana at Radio City Music Hall, the national tour and the Mallz Jupiter Theatre production of Cabaret, and the Off Broadway production of The Shanghai Gesture. John has also served as the dialect coach for Christine Lahti in Pride in the Fall of Autry Mill and for Concetta Tomei in Fallaci.

Brynn Asha Walker (she/they) is a queer, mixed-race, and neurodivergent performer, director, designer, playwright, scholar, teacher, and applied theatre artist. She has been teaching Lee Strasberg’s work for the last eight years as taught to her by David Gideon, former Director of The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute and one of the foremost experts on this work. Brynn has been the Producing Artistic Director of The Seeing Place Theater in NYC since 2009, where some of her notable performances have been as Charlotte in I Am My Own Wife, Hamlet in Hamlet, Berenger in Rhinoceros, Katurian in The Pillowman, and the NYIT Award Nominated performance as Danny in Danny and the Deep Blue Sea Off Broadway). Member: Actors Equity Association, Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and The National Alliance of Acting Teachers. Brynn is committed to abolitionist teaching and actively works toward breaking down oppressive barriers to learning. Her approach to teaching this work is clear, simple, joyful, affirming, and challenging.

Debra Wiley is an internationally acclaimed acting teacher, performance coach, and singing voice specialist (M.A. in Acting and Vocal Performance, NYU) who has taught at the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute for nearly twenty years. Debra has also taught and directed performers in the U.S. at institutions that include The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College of Music, Montclair State University, New York University, Marymount Manhattan College, Harlem School of the Arts, and Henry Street Settlement. She has directed plays and numerous classical recitals, and given master classes and seminars at organizations which include: Disney Theatrical Productions, SAG Conservatory, The Danish State Theater School, The Danish Actors Union, Eklektisk Theater Company, Chamber Music America, Operafest, Songfest, [email protected], Mannes College of Music, and NYU Steinhardt. As a stage performer, she has been featured with professional companies in New York and regionally across various disciplines, including theater, musical theater, opera and cabaret. Debra studied and worked extensively with some of the finest teacher/directors of our time, including Lee Strasberg, Irma Sandrey, Ed Kovens, and Wesley Balk (Minnesota Opera).This year, Debra was again included in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.

Dan Winerman is a Los Angeles-born, Manhattan-based film and theater director. He’s a graduate of NYU’s Drama Department and Boston University’s Graduate Directing Program. He’s currently in post-production for Summer Break, a romantic comedy scripted by Cary Gitter.

Dan works primarily with emerging writers on new plays. He’s directed and developed at Primary Stages, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Geva Theatre Center, New Dramatists, Lark Theatre, Flea Theater, Atlantic Theater Company, HERE Arts Center, Boston Playwrights Theatre, Midtown Int’l Theatre Festival, New York Int’l Fringe Festival, Young Playwrights Festival, Samuel French Short Play Festival, Summer Shorts Festival @ 59E59 Theater, NYU’s Dept of Dramatic Writing, and NYU’s Dept of Musical Theatre Writing. As Literary Associate for Berkshire Playwrights Lab, Dan directed staged readings of new plays by Anna Ziegler, Sam Marks, Jonathan Caren, and John Cariani. Dan’s a recipient of the Drama League Assistant Director Fellowship and a finalist for the National Directors Fellowship.

Dan’s guest directed at Pace University, American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Fordham University, and Stella Adler Studio of Acting. Dan has taught at AMDA, New York Film Academy, New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, Five Towns College, Rider University, and Atlantic Theater Company. He currently teaches acting and directing in the Department of Film and Television, Tisch School of the Arts, NYU.