The Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University Announces 2012 Season

This year’s 36 Actors Studio Drama School MFA candidates have received advice about the craft of acting, directing and writing from influential names in entertainment.  Those who have recently graced the stage of the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts at Pace University in New York City and been interviewed by Dean Emeritus James Lipton -- the creator, executive-producer, writer and host of “Inside The Actors Studio, which is seen in 89 million American homes on Bravo TV, and around the world in 125 countries – include:

• Brad Pitt
• George Clooney
• Bradley Cooper (Actors Studio Drama School, MFA’00)
• James Franco
• James Cameron
• Jennifer Aniston
• Jim Carrey
• Sean Combs
• Kate Hudson
• Cast of Modern Family (Ed O'Neill, Julie Bowen, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ty Burrell, Sofia Vergara and Eric Stonestreet)
• Cast of Glee (Creator Ryan Murphy, Matthew Morrison, Jane Lynch, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith and Chris Colfer)
• Legendary rock band, Bon Jovi (Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, David Bryan, and Tico Torres)

This bird’s-eye view of industry giants also comes with interview privileges, allowing the graduate students to ask their own individual questions of the Oscar, Emmy, Tony, Golden Globe, Grammy and BAFTA award winners they someday hope to emulate.  

“Our 36 MFA candidates are accomplished and have multiple credits on the big screen, small screen, on stage and in the wings,” said Andreas Manolikakis, chair of The Actors Studio Drama School and a board member of The Actors Studio. “They have founded their own theater companies as well as performed, written and directed for others.  But they have collaborated together these last three years in New York City, united as they pursued their dreams and refined their craft as actors, directors or playwrights in the only Masters’ theater program endorsed by the renowned Actors Studio … two express subway stops from Broadway.

“All have diverse backgrounds, and that’s the beauty of it, because one learns not only from the faculty but from one another,” continued Manolikakis.  

The 2012 Actors Studio Drama School candidates include:

• U.S. Navy Chef, National Runner-Up in the Season 5 Mad Men Casting Call with recent TV credits on White Collar, Law & Order: SVU, Royal Pains, Humanly Impossible, and I’m Alive.
• Captain of the Women’s Soccer Team at Connecticut College.
• Actor in Robert DeNiro’s new crime drama series The 2-2 on CBS-TV.
• Award-winning playwright (Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival – 1999, 2000) who has authored 140 works - some now being performed Off-Broadway and in regional theaters.  
• Opera singer who has performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.
• International Puppeteer, Fulbright Scholar and American Scandinavian Foundation Fellow.
• Gymnast, Women’s Gymnastics Team at the University of Michigan on full athletic scholarship.
• Actor appearing on Lifetime’s Army Wives and the Atlanta soap opera, Love Always Charleston.
• Gospel mime on the international gospel television network, Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN).
• NYC Fringe Film Festival Director.
• Clowning, Syo-Kon-Do (Mixed Martial Arts) and Kyudo (Japanese Archery) expert.
• Michigan dairy farmer.
• Silk Road Dance Company member who performed at the 2011 Asia Cup Games in Doha, Qatar.
• Two members of the Festival of Fools, a NYC based verse-inspired theatre company.
• Intern at Shakespeare’s Globe Theater in London.

The 2012 Actors Studio Drama School Repertory Season performances will take place at The Theater at Dance New Amsterdam, 53 Chambers St., just north of City Hall, Wednesdays through Fridays at 8 p.m. and Saturdays at 3 and 8 p.m. from March 28 through April 28. The full schedule and information about plays, actors, directors and playwrights can be found online at www.Pace.edu/ASDSRep

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