Hamilton Joins CalArts Faculty

Dean Travis Preston is pleased to announce that acclaimed actress Lisa Gay Hamilton is joining the faculty of California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) School of Theater beginning in the fall semester 2010. Recognized as one of the outstanding actors of her generation, Ms. Hamilton has a distinguished career on stage, screen, and television--currently playing the role of Melissa in the comedy-drama television series Men of a Certain Age .  She will be teaching in the Acting Program.

"The School of Theater and the Institute as a whole are on the verge of an important evolution in arts training," commented Dean Preston. "A fearless artist of rare talents, Lisa Gay is a welcome addition to our faculty as we imagine the future together and make CalArts' School of  Theater the iconic theater-training program for the 21st century."

Ms. Hamilton's theater credits include Measure for Measure, Two Gentlemen of Verona, and Henry IV Parts I & II at the New York Shakespeare Theatre Festival. She was a member of the original Broadway companies of August Wilson's The Piano Lesson and Gem of the Ocean. She earned an Obie and Clarence Derwent Award, Drama Desk, Helen Hayes and Ovation nominations for her role as Veronica in Athol Fugard's play, Valley Song.  Off-Broadway, she starred in Adrienne Kennedy's play The Ohio State Murders, for which she earned her second Obie. Her long list of film credits include True Crime, Palookaville, Drunks, Ophelia in director Campbell Scott's Hamlet, and Jonathan Demme's Beloved. She is well known for her role on David E. Kelley's drama, The Practice, on ABC, for which she also directed an episode. Presently she is a series regular in Ray Ramano's new series on TNT called Men of a Certain Age. 

A filmmaker as well as an actress, Ms. Hamilton directed, and co-produced with Jonathan Demme, the documentary BEAH: A Black Woman Speaks. "When you spoke with Beah something happened," said Ms. Hamilton. "She was duty-bound to share her knowledge. She was an African teacher who challenged you to think about your life and demanded that you use the gifts our ancestors gave use responsibly." The documentary premiered on HBO in 2003 and went on to win Best Documentary at the AFI International Film Festival, a Peabody Award and The Paul Robeson African Diaspora award at the FESPACO Film Festival.

CalArts has a multidisciplinary approach to its studies of the arts through six schools: Art, Critical Studies, Dance, Film/Video, Music and Theater. CalArts encourages students to explore and recognize the complexity of the many aspects of the arts. It is supported by a distinguished faculty of practicing artists and provides its Bachelor and Master of Fine Arts students with the hands-on training and exposure necessary for an artist's growth. CalArts was founded in 1961 and opened in 1969 as the first institution of higher learning in the United States specifically for students interested in the pursuit of degrees in all areas of visual and performing arts.