Sharrell D. Luckett to Join Alliance Theatre's CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS in January

Celebrated by PBS as one of America's most influential leaders in theatre performance and training, Sharrell D. Luckett, PhD, founding Executive Director of the Black Acting Methods Studio, will be the featured January guest for the Tony Award Winning Alliance Theatre's "Curious Conversations" event. Sharrell D. Luckett, PhD, is lead editor of the award-winning, #1 Best-Selling book, Black Acting Methods: Critical Approaches. This future-forward conversation will center around Luckett's groundbreaking acting methodology, The Luckett Paradigm, equity and representation in the performing arts industry.

Sharrell D. Luckett, PhD, is the founding Executive Director of the Black Acting Methods Studio and has been honored by "Black Masks" magazine as one of 25 Black Theatre Game Changers in the field. In 2023, Sharrell made history as the first African-American appointed as Editor-in-Chief of SETC's award-winning "Southern Theatre" magazine since its origins in 1959. Sharrell recently served on the Independent Equity Committee at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London and was a 2024 artEquity BIPOC Arts Leadership Fellow. Additionally, Sharrell has authored/co-authored five books and given talks at over seventy institutions. She has been a Fellow at renowned entities, such as the Lincoln Center, Harvard University, and 92Y. Sharrell is also Director of the Helen Weinberger Center for Drama & Playwriting and Charles P. Taft Distinguished Professor of Drama and Performance Studies at the University of Cincinnati.

The Black Acting Methods Studio was founded by Sharrell D. Luckett soon after the 2016 release of her and Dr. Tia M. Shaffer's popular book, Black Acting Methods: Critical Approaches. The book features a compilation of performance training techniques that center the Black American lived experience and their unique needs in the entertainment industry. Of course, the majority of actor training programs in America center White culture and teach techniques created by White practitioners. Therefore, Luckett, the Studio and the book are changing the landscape of performing arts programs by providing critical and necessary interventions in the actor training process.

The Alliance Theatre's Education program is truly comprehensive. They have programs for all ages through their Acting Program, Bernhardt Theatre for the Very Young productions, and the Alliance Theatre Institute. Their curriculum features programs for learning to act (on stage or on camera), sharpening your business communication skills, better educating children, and just learning about theater. Each season, they also offer most of their professional theater productions during select school days for field trips.