History and Philosophy
“Work at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute will provide you with a craft that is proven to be able to solve the problems that an actor faces.” These words, spoken years ago by Lee Strasberg, continue to resonate today. Strasberg, who helped revolutionize the art of acting, invented procedures which continue to form the basic approach to the actor’s creative process.
What does an actor do? The Institute believes that the actor’s contribution is to create and live through real experience. Often compelling words can evoke feelings from the actor, as well as the audience – but the actor cannot depend on luck or a good script. That is what we train actors to do: to have a craft that will help them create and express real experience in an imaginary situation, regardless of the style or form of the material being used.
The teaching of this craft is accomplished through the use of the various exercises that constitute what we call Method Acting. Much discussed, but often misunderstood, the Method trains actors to use their physical, mental and emotional humanity in the creation of the play’s character. Sense memory exercises begin with very simple objects that most people deal with daily so that actors can perceive their ability to create simple realities for themselves and their imaginations. Improvisation is used to help create the habit of living through real experience. Scenes are linked to other exercises and the emphasis is on preparation rather than reaching a result.
The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute believes that training an actor properly can take from two to three years of daily work. No matter how aware intellectually an actor is or how much feeling you espouse, the ability to express and to do on the stage what is required of you can only be accomplished by systematic work on every facet of your instrument. The Method dares you to take this challenge, to invoke your own sense of truth in every role. The Strasberg approach gives the actor a conscious craft, while helping to prevent the inconsistencies that plague the untrained actor.
The teachers at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute have been chosen because of their knowledge of Strasberg's Method and their comprehension of how to apply it to the work of the actor. Their classes encompass the full range of today’s acting art, including on-camera work for television and film in a state-of-the-art digital film studio, stage acting, musical theatre, voice, movement for theatre, script analysis, directing, and theatre history, which is intriguingly presented to engage modern sensibilities, while illuminating a past that is still relevant.
Lee Strasberg was the first to recognize that acting did not begin and end with teaching, only acting. Therefore, as actors progress through their basic training, The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute offers opportunities to explore advanced areas of study. Teachers guide you through exercises designed to hone your ability to create a reality for yourself and your character. Actors learn to express powerful emotions called forth by their affective memories, having been encouraged to leave behind conventional, superficial and clichéd expressions in search of their own unique artistic voice.
At Strasberg you are taught to invoke your own sense of truth in every role and stress the ways in which personal experience can fire the imagination. This is the Strasberg Difference. This is the spark that turns an accomplished technician into an inspired artist.
This is what makes an actor trained at The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute an actor trained for success.
Alumni
Three generations of American actors – from Marilyn Monroe and James Dean to Al Pacino and Robert De Niro to Alec Baldwin and Angelina Jolie – have studied the Method and emerged as major stars. In addition to these luminaries, The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute has produced some of the most innovative and popular actors working today, including Steve Buscemi (The Sopranos), Matt Dillon (Crash), Rebecca Gayheart (Medium), Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos), Ray Liotta (Smokin’ Aces), Frank Medrano (Entourage), Sienna Miller (Factory Girl), Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond), James Spader (Boston Legal), Uma Thurman (My Super Ex-Girlfriend), Clare Danes (Shopgirl), Scarlett Johansson (The Nanny Diaries), John Leguizama (Love in the Time of Cholera), Adam Sandler (I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry) and Chandra Wilson (Grey’s Anatomy).
Administration and Faculty
| Anna Strasberg | Artistic Director |
| David Strasberg | CEO |
| Victoria Krane | President |
| Caroline McGee | Director |
| Ruth Rugoff | Administrator, International Student Affairs |
| Alice Doyle | Administrator, Young Actors at Strasberg |
| Patricia Rosado | Senior Registrar |
| Esther Turnbull, Joyce Leung | Registrars |
Acting
Hope Arthur
Bill Balzac
Lola Cohen
Susan Grace Cohen
Robert Ellermann
Geoffrey Horne
Stephen Michaels
Judith Robinson
Ted Zurkowski
Singing
Bruce Baumer
Jan Douglas
Scott Flaherty
Dr. Christopher Roselli
Dance/Movement
Matt Farver
Jeffrey Ferguson
Madeline Jaye
Michael Ryan
Speech/Voice/Dialects
Thom Garvey
Dr. Christopher Roselli
John Van Wyden
Audition
Lorca Peress
Stage Combat
J. Allen Suddeth
Tai Chi
Ron NaVarre
Performance and Production
Merve Taskan
Dramatic Writing
Larry Alton
Acting for Film and TV
Robert Milazzo
Working with the Director
Gia Forakis
Business of the Business
Alan Filderman
