The Actors Studio to Host Three Special 75th Anniversary Events in December

Starting this week, The Actors Studio will continue its 75th Anniversary celebration as the world's most celebrated and influential membership association for professional actors, directors and playwrights. In December, the legendary studio, located at 432 West 44th Street, will open its doors to the public for with three special events, each free and open to the public.

Friday, December 2 at 7PM

GOING SOLO: CREATING SOLO WORK AT The Actors Studio

Working alone onstage brings its own challenges, and its own rewards. Please join us for an evening dedicated to revealing the process of working as a solo artist. We will revisit excerpts from solo plays which were developed at The Actors Studio, and then we'll hear from the artists themselves -as they discuss the process, and how the Studio influenced their journeys. To reserve you seats for this event, visit TheActorsStudio.org/75GoingSolo.

Thursday, December 8 at 7PM

SCREENING OF BABY DOLL

In 1956, Elia Kazan's highly anticipated follow up to A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee William's Baby Doll was released in theaters across New York. In honor of one of the film's stars, Eli Wallach, come and see this timeless work followed by commentary from of our very special guests, Academy Award-nominee and Golden Globe-winner Carroll Baker (one of the film's stars) and Katherine Wallach (daughter Eli Wallach), interviewed by renowned film and theater author, Professor of Film at Brooklyn College, Foster Hirsch. To reserve you seats for this event, visit TheActorsStudio.org/75BabyDoll.

Friday, December 9 & Saturday, December 10 at 7PM

ACTORS STUDIO IN PROCESS

This program will feature curated evenings of advanced work, drawn from the acting sessions at The Actors Studio. These open rehearsals can be a scene lifted from a larger production, a variation on a scene, and/or exploration of the work designed by the actors-just as we do every week in session at the Studio. To reserve you seats for one of the two evenings, visit TheActorsStudio.org/75ProcessDec.

While each of the events are free and open to the public, space is limited and reservations are required for access. For more information about The Actors Studio, visit TheActorsStudio.org.

 

Both a place and a philosophy, The Actors Studio is an association of artists who, drawing from this common wellspring, have made enormous contributions to American art. Founded in 1947 in New York City by Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford, and Robert Lewis, the Studio began as a place where theatre artists could gather, privately, to explore new and deeper connections to the work. The founding members, a group of actors, writers, and directors, were committed to redefining the art of acting, to developing a series of techniques an actor could use to search for and express the truth onstage in the moment. The workshop went on to become the most powerful influence on American acting in the 20th century and continues today serving new generations of actors who are committed to the same ideal. Founding Artistic Director, Lee Strasberg, developed a series of techniques and exercises that became known as 'The Method' and changed the art of acting worldwide.

Membership is free. After successfully completing a series of auditions, the actor is invited into membership for life. Membership is bi-coastal, and to support them there are two locations. New York is The Actors Studio's birthplace and administrative headquarters. The only branch, Actors Studio West, is located in West Hollywood, CA. All members benefit from having a home with similar activities on both coasts.

Current leadership of The Actors Studio includes Co-Presidents Ellen Burstyn, Alec Baldwin and Al Pacino; Artistic Directors Beau Gravitte (NYC) and Salome Jens (L.A.); Co-Associate Artistic Directors Estelle Parsons, Michael Aronov and Javier Molina (NYC), and Katherine Cortez (L.A.)

Notable members, past and present, of The Actors Studio have included Bea Arthur, Anne Bancroft, Michael Bennett, Marlon Brando, Roscoe Lee Browne, Montgomery Clift, Common, Bradley Cooper, James Dean, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Sally Field, Jane Fonda, Ben Gazzara, Lorraine Hansberry, Julie Harris, Dustin Hoffman, Celeste Holm, Kim Hunter, William Inge, Elia Kazan, Harvey Keitel, Stephen Lang, James Lipton, Martin Landau, Cloris Leachman, Melissa Leo, Norman Mailer, Walter Matthau, Marilyn Monroe, Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson, Clifford Odets, Geraldine Page, Sidney Poitier, Sydney Pollack, Jose Quintero, Jerome Robbins, Mark Rylance, Eva Marie Saint, Kim Stanley, Maureen Stapleton, Rod Steiger, Eli Wallach, Tennessee Williams, Gene Wilder, Shelley Winters and Joanne Woodward, to name a few.