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The Actors Center provides actors with extraordinary creative opportunities designed to advance their artistic development, spark innovation, and cultivate transcendent works of art on stage, on screen, and in communities throughout the United States.

Through our creative residency programs, artist development workshops, advanced training opportunities, and mentorship, we are a leading advocate for the highest levels of excellence in the craft of acting and the theatre, film, and television industries.

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Meet our Resident Company of 300 Actors
Leaders Who Work Throughout Theater, Film, and Television

Our National Reach Over The Past 5 Years

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New York Theater Companies
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Broadway Shows
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Television Series
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Major Feature Films
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Universities and Schools
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States Across the U.S.

Working with almost every major non-profit theatre in NYC, including the Public Theater, Roundabout, Vineyard, Signature, Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Theatre Company, Classic Stage Company.

Including Between Riverside and Crazy, Fat Ham, Life of Pi, Leopoldstadt, Funny Girl, The Piano Lesson, A Beautiful Noise, A Strange Loop,  Slave Play, Tina, To Kill a Mockingbird, and many more.

Including top shows from every network, such as Abbott Elementary, Succession, Ozark, Black Bird, Atlanta, Dear Edward, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Handmaid’s Tale, Billions, and The Walking Dead.

Including Dune, The Irishman, The Report, The Trial of the Chicago 7, The Big Sick, The Greatest Showman, Black Panther, Boston Strangler, working with directors Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorcese, Spike Lee, Ava Duvernay, and Denzel Washington.

Teaching at training programs across the country including Juilliard, Yale, NYU, Brown, Columbia, USC, A.C.T., Purchase, among others, as well as independent studios and public school programs.

Working at regional theaters and national tours in 40 of 50 states including at the Guthrie, Goodman, Steppenwolf, Arena Stage, Yale Rep, Trinity Rep, Seattle Rep, La Jolla, Cincinnati Playhouse.

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Recent News & Company Projects

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Acclaimed acting teacher, and former Yale, NYU, and Columbia faculty member Ron Van Lieu returns to The Actors Center in April for a teaching residency working with members of the Resident Company.

Company member Michele Shay stars as Mama in Zora Howard’s Stew, directed by Stori Ayers at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. The play, a 2021 Pulitzer Prize finalist, tells a captivating, funny and intimate story about the relationship between mothers, daughters and the realities that bind them together. Three generations of Black women gather in Mama’s kitchen to cook an important meal—and things are about to boil over. As they take turns preparing a stew, closely held details of their lives rise slowly to the surface. But time is running short to prepare the meal, and the truths they try to keep from one another threaten to reveal themselves. A heady combination of secrets, knowingness and even violence hangs thick in the air before the day reaches an unforgettable climax. The production runs through April 7 in Cincinnati, OH.

Company member Tonya Pinkins is in the world premiere of Windows, a new play by Tawni O’Dell. Directed by Mitchell Maxwell and presented by Out of the Box Theatrics, the play receives a limited engagement of five performances at the Town Hall, March 25-27. Windows is adapted from the podcast Closing the Distance, an episodic series performed and recorded by celebrated actors during the early days of the pandemic. The play brings to light the enormous changes that have washed over everyone since the pandemic of 2020 forced us to change from the inside out. The cast also features Avantika, Craig Bierko, Tony Danza, Erin Darke, Jeffrey Donovan, Tovah Feldshuh, Adam Kantor, Carolyn McCormick, and Jesse Nager.

Company member LaTonya Borsay is in Escaped Alone by Caryl Churchill, directed by Liz Diamond at Yale Repertory Theatre with a cast that includes Mary Lou Rosato, Sandra Shipley, and Rita Wolf. Escaped Alone follows three old friends and a neighbor in a verdant backyard on a summer afternoon. The convention-defying play sets in comic and devastating counterpoint the consolations of a good chat and the looming weight of disasters both intimate and global. The production runs through March 30 in New Haven, CT.

Company members Kelley Rae O’Donnell and Angel Desai are in lolita lolita, produced by LABryinth Theater Company as part of its LAB: STRIPPED series, featuring works in progressWritten by Elizabeth Narciso and directed by Alfredo Narciso, the play is a time-traveling joyride through the history of the patriarchy! Helen of Troy, Salome, and Lolita employ all the powers at their disposal: poetry, pop culture, and cherry cake to set the record straight. The production stars Molly Collier, Biko Eisen-Martin, Sarah Nina Hayon, Ani Mesa, Kohl Sudduth, and Viviana Valeria and runs at 59E59 Theaters through March 24.

Company member Julia Gibson plays Helen Hubbard in Murder on the Orient Express at Playmakers Repertory Theatre. A luxurious train ride comes to a halt when a passenger is found dead. With a murderer on the loose, the passengers of the Orient Express must band together before the body count goes up. Tracy Bersley directs this fast-paced ride inspired by Agatha Christie’s classic novel, adapted for the stage by Ken Ludwig. Now on stage through March 24 in Chapel Hill, NC.

Company member Gillian Glasco joins the cast of Doubt on Broadway as an understudy for Mrs. Muller, marking her Broadway debut. The production of John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, directed by Scott Ellis, stars Liev Schreiber and Amy Ryan and is presented by Roundabout Theatre Company. Sister Aloysius, the prickly principal of a Catholic school in a working-class part of the Bronx, is feared by students and colleagues alike. But when she suspects nefarious relations between the charismatic priest Father Flynn and a student, she’s forced to wrestle with what’s fact, what’s fiction, and how much she’ll risk to expose the difference—all the while wrestling with her own bone-deep doubts. The production is scheduled to run through April 21 at the Todd Haimes Theatre.

Company member Megan Loomis is the standby for Madame Morrible in Wicked on Broadway. Megan was previously in the National Tour cast. This marks her Broadway debut. Company member William Youmans currently plays Dr. Dillamond in the production, which recently welcomed Donna McKechnie, Mary Kate Morrissey, and Alexandra Socha to the cast at the Gershwin Theatre.

Company member Stephanie Kurtzuba returns as Captain Paula McNichols in the 14th and final season of Blue Bloods on CBS/Paramount+. Stephanie first appeared in Season 10, before she began recurring regularly last season. The network announced late last year that this season would be the police procedural’s last. It will be released in two parts: the first half began airing February 16 and the second half is scheduled for later this fall.

Haruna Lee, theater maker, screenwriter, and educator, and Peter Jay Fernandez, actor, teacher, and Co-Head of Acting at Columbia, are in residence this spring, leading creative development workshops with The Actors Center’s Resident Company focusing on writing and scene work.

Company Member David Dean Bottrell has been named a 2024 Bistro Award Honoree for having attained outstanding achievement in 2023 for his solo shows The Death of Me Yet and Dear Mr. Bottrell, I Cannot Possibly Accept ThisThe Death of Me Yet is an uplifting show about biting the dust—featuring tales of potluck funerals, chatty EMS personnel, plus a dazzling array of new burial options. In Dear Mr. Bottrell, I Cannot Possibly Accept This, David ​​shares a set of unfortunately true stories about ill-advised singing lessons, nasty neighbors, over-enthusiastic weight loss, and trying to keep his sister out of prison. Other Bistro Award honorees this year include cabaret legends Robert Klein and Judy Gold. The awards will be presented on April 1.

Ka-Ling Cheung appears in Law & Order: Organized Crime in Season 4 Episode 6 “Beyond the Sea” on NBC/Peacock.

 

Ellen Adair appears in Law & Order in Season 23, Episode 6 “On the Ledge” on NBC/Peacock.

 

Caroline Aaron returns as Carol in multiple episodes of Season 3 of Ghosts on CBS/Paramount+.

 

Angel Desai appears in Law & Order in Season 23, Episode 6 “On the Ledge” on NBC/Peacock.

 

Jennifer Ferrin returns to The Equalizer as District Attorney Avery Grafton in Season 4 Episode 1 “Truth for a Truth” on CBS/Paramount+.

 

Madeline Wise appears in the web series Out of Pocket, “Chapter I: Nepo Babe”

Company member Sarah Baskin’s short film Les Câlins Cheaps (Cheap Hugs)is now released and streaming on Omeleto, a Youtube channel showcasing award-winning short films. Sarah directed, wrote, and starred in the film, which follows two women reeling from the loss of their mutual friend and find themselves in an unexpected moment of connection on the streets of Montreal. Adapted from a play of the same name by Annick Lefebvre, the screenplay was co-written by Sarah Baskin, Valéry Lessard and Bryan Fitzgerald, and the cast also features Miryiam Magri and Valéry Lessard. Watch the film.

Company members James Seol and Ronald Peet are in the new feature film Problemista, written by, directed by, and starring Julio TorresThe dark fairytale is about Alejandro, an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador, struggling to bring his unusual ideas to life in New York. As time runs out on his work visa, a job assisting an erratic art-world outcast becomes his only hope to stay in the country. The film also stars Tilda Swinton and was released in theaters March 1. Watch the trailer.

Company members Sanjit De Silva, Sepideh Moafi, and Benjamin Thys are in the new play Corruption at Lincoln Center Theater. Written by J.T. Rogers and directed by Barlett Sher, the play tells the story behind the story of the phone-hacking scandal that engulfed Rupert Murdoch’s media empire in 2011, stunning the world and upending British politics. When Parliament member Tom Watson is maliciously smeared in the newspaper, he decides to fight back. But what he uncovers is far more insidious than he ever imagined. Epic in scope and often startlingly funny, this new play tells a true-life David and Goliath story of ordinary men and women trying to find a way to save their democracy before it’s too late. Company member Patrick Mulryan is the voice and dialect coach for the production. Now in previews, the play opens March 11 and runs through April 14.

Fay Simpson, founder of the Lucid Body and NYU Grad Acting faculty, and Kevin Isola, actor and fellow NYU Grad Acting faculty member, will join The Actors Center’s Resident Company in March for a series of artist development workshops focused on movement work and clown.