Featured Faculty

Faculty Directory

Barbara Rubin
A seasoned stage director, Barbara began her career at the renowned Market Theatre in her native Johannesburg, South Africa. She relocated to the US in 2000 to assist Athol Fugard on Sorrows and Rejoicings at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, NJ and at Second Stage in NY. Barbara made her Off Broadway directorial debut at The Women's Project in 2004. She was recently the Associate Director of Girl from The North Country on Broadway and she resumes this role for the upcoming US national tour. Previous Broadway credits include Streetcar Named Desire, The Elephant Man and The Dance of Death. Her favorite international directing credit was in Antwerp, Belgium, at the invitation of an Academy graduate!
 
Barbara is also a dialect coach for TV, film and stage. She’s coached such luminaries as Julia Garner (most recently for Inventing Anna – Netflix), Daniel Radcliffe, Samira Wiley, Jennifer Hudson, Hilary Swank, Adam Bakri, Terrence Howard and Anna Chlumsky. Barbara was the dialect coach to Rosemary Harris and Carla Gugino on Fugard's The Road to Mecca on Broadway (2011). She coached all seven productions of Fugard's residency at The Signature Theatre (2012 to 2019): The Blood Knot; My Children! My Africa!; The Train Driver; The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek; Master Harold…and the Boys; &  Boesman and Lena. Recent stage credits include Lynn Nottage’s Mlima’s Tale at The Rep in St. Louis, The Rolling Stone at LCT and two shows in the Williamstown Theater Festival’s Audible season: The Chonburi International Hotel & Butterfly Club and Photograph 51

Degrees and Studies
BA, Dramatic Art (Hons), University of The Witwatersrand, South Africa; Associate Teaching Diploma, Speech and Drama, Trinity College, UK; Studied with Uta Hagen, Carol Rosenberg, Patsy Rodenberg, Kristin Linklater and David Harryman; Member of Lincoln Center Directors' Lab.
 
Barbara is the Company Director for The Academy's New York Company.
Degrees and Studies
BFA, Tisch School of the Arts, NYU; Studied acting at Circle in the Square and The Classical Studio under Louis Scheeder; Studied voice/text with Robert Neff Williams and Catherine Fitzmaurice; Former member of Resident Acting Company at Obie and Pearl Theatre Company, appeared in 40+ Off-Broadway productions; Received Actors’ Equity Bayfield Award; Taught at The Pearl Conservatory and NYC high schools; Award-winning audio book narrator
 
Bottrell began his career in New York as an actor and playwright at such prominent theatres as the Second Stage, the Public Theatre, La MaMa, the Long Wharf, Studio Arena and the Actors Theatre of Louisville.  In addition to acting, he has written screenplays for 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight, MTV Films, Paramount Pictures and Disney Feature Animation. His script, Kingdom Come was made into a successful feature film starring Whoopi Goldberg, Jada Pinkett Smith and LL Cool J. He is probably best known for playing the creepy, homicidal "Lincoln Meyer" on season three of Boston Legal.  His recent guest star and recurring roles include such shows as Modern Family, The Blacklist, SVU, Longmire, Rectify, Mad Men, True Blood, Justified, Criminal Minds, NCIS, CSI, Castle, Bones and Days of Our Lives.  Bottrell is the creator of the acclaimed Sci-Fest LA: The Los Angeles Science Fiction One-Act Play Festival and has won over 17 awards for his directing work.  He has taught scene study, camera acting and audition technique for the New York and Los Angeles campuses of AADA as well as the UCLA Professional Screen Acting Program, the Screen Actors Guild Conservatory, and the SAG-AFTRA Continuing Education Program.
 
Degrees and Studies
Studied Meisner Technique with William Esper. Experienced performer and playwright. TV guest star roles include Modern Family, The Blacklist, Boston Legal, Mad Men, Criminal Minds and True Blood. Screenwriter for 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight, MTV Films, Paramount Pictures and Disney.

 
Degrees and Studies
BA, Oberlin College; MFA, ART/MXAT Institute at Harvard University; Studied with Scott Ziegler, Marcus Stern, Nancy Houfek, Roman Kodak, Andrei Droznin, David Hammond, Catherine Fitzmaurice, Saul Kotzubel, Ilse Pfeifer, Andrew Bolsher and Nancy Houfek; Certified Teacher in Fitzmaurice Voicework; Actor and Voice & Speech Specialist; Former faculty of Montclair State University, Manhattanville College, Canberra Academy of Dramatic Art, and Studio New York
 
BA, Theatre Arts, Minnesota State University, Moorhead; MFA, Performance, University of Maryland; Designated Linklater Voice Teacher; Artistic Director, Shakespeare on the Fly; Studied Meisner Technique with Fred Kareman; Senior Faculty/Former Associate Director of Training, Shakespeare & Company; Artistic Director, Stark Raving Theatre, 1990-2000; Directing credits include As You Like It (Tennessee Shakespeare Co.), Richard III, (Purdue), Measure for Measure (Shakespeare & Co.), The Visit (Stark Raving Theatre); Acting credits include Waiting for Godot (Tennessee Shakespeare Co.), The Dick and The Rose (Edinburgh Fringe Festival), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Beijing, China); Taught voice for National Theatre of Ghana
 
Degrees and Studies
BA, SUNY Albany; MFA, UCLA; Interdisciplinary theatre artist; Performed at Kennedy Center, Saratoga Shakespeare Company and Off-Broadway at Mint Theater; Directed at NYU, Theater for the New City, the cell, and Culture Project; Past Artistic Director of Hive; Professional costume artisan for X-Men, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Charlie’s Angels
 
Christopher Halladay is a professional actor and teacher, based out of New York City. 
TV credits: Law & Order: SVU (multiple), FBI, Ray Donovan, God Friended Me, The Blacklist, Mr. Robot, Gotham, Limitless, The Unusuals, All my Children and Guiding Light
Film credits: The Volunteers, Stella’s Last Weekend, Movie Night, February, A Guy Named Rick, Jason’s Big Problem, Forged and Hourly Rates
Theatre credits: In Masks Outrageous and Austere (world premiere) at The Culture Project, The Actors Company, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Abingdon Theatre, Urban Stages, Luna Stage NJ, Palm Beach Dramaworks, South Coast Repertory, A Noise Within, Pasadena Playhouse, Shakespeare Orange County, Mile Square Theater and Montréal Fringe Festival
 
Degrees and Studies
MFA, Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University; BA, George Washington University; AA, The American Academy of Dramatic Arts; British-American Drama Academy graduate, Upright Citizens Brigade

Yvette Heyliger started out in the theatre as an actor studying with acclaimed teacher of the Meisner Technique, the late William Esper. Soon after graduating, she landed a role on The Cosby Show. Yvette went on to become a playwright, director, producing artist, activist and educator. Author of What a Piece of Work is Man! Full-Length Plays for Leading Women, she has contributed to many theatrical anthologies, as well as penning many theatre industry-related articles in magazines, blog posts, textbooks, and a scholarly journal. Yvette is recipient of the AUDELCO Recognition Award for Excellence in Black Theatre’s August Wilson Playwright Award, as well as their Dramatic Production of the Year Award; an NAACP’s Annual Theatre Award Best Playwright nomination; the National Black Theatre Festival’s Emerging Producer Award; and a Resolution from the City of Los Angeles, among others. Yvette’s plays, including her one-woman show, have been presented in theatre festivals in New York and Los Angeles, as well as at the prestigious National Black Theatre Festival, the Billie Holiday Theatre, and Glouster Stage Company. Memberships: AEA, SAG-AFTRA, SDC, and Dramatists Guild. Service: AADA General Education Committee and Diversity Scene Search Committee, Dramatist Guild Equity Diversity Inclusion Committee, Honor Roll! Executive Committee, and League of Professional Theatre Women.   

 

Degrees and Studies 

William Esper, William Esper Studios, New York University (BA & MA – Acting), Queens College (MFA – Playwrighting), Hunter College (MA – Theatre Education) and guest artist at many colleges and universities. 

Maggie Low has originated roles in Catholic School Girls by Casey Kurtti, at the Douglas Fairbanks Theater, Times of War by Eric Lane, at the Adirondack Theatre Festival, The Man Who Shot the Man Who Shot Jesse James at the Manhattan Punchline, Candle in the Window by Tom Gilroy, directed by Michael Imperioli, Venus' Diary by Lynne McCullough, directed by Tom O’Horgan, The Big Vig by Jason Furlani and Kerry and Angie (Critics Choice Award at the Samuel French Festival) by Gerry Sheridan. She won the 2018 Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Actress in a Lead Role for Chickens in the Yard with Adjusted Realists. Favorite roles include Gertrude in Hamlet, with Jared Harris at the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, and for eight years, Dixie Lily on the Bernie Fleshkin Rock ‘n’ Roll Dance Party, WBAI. Feature films and television include: The Cold Lands, Postcards from America, NOC, Deborah Sampson, a guest lead on Law & Order, The Blacklist, Bull and Release. Maggie currently teaches at Maggie Low Studio and The American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She taught at NYU/Tisch Playwrights Horizons Theater School from 1998-2013. AEA, SAG-AFTRA. She is a Lifetime Member of the Actors Studio. 

Degrees and Studies
William Esper, Wynn Handman, and Tim Phillips
 
MFA-UNC Greensboro; BA-UNC Chapel Hill; BA-Hunter College; Film and TV Credits-Tell Me Lies (Hulu); The Evening Hour (Sundance Premier); House of Cards (Netflix); Revolution (NBC); Off-Broadway-The New York Theatre Workshop. 

Erin O’Leary is an actor, a member of Actor’s Equity Association, the National Alliance of Acting Teachers and an AmSAT certified Alexander Technique teacher. Additional teaching includes: Juilliard- Drama Division, The O’Neill Center/ National Theater Institute, The Wooster Group, Univ of TN Opera and private coaching in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

 

Degrees and Studies

MFA- University of Tennessee/ Clarence Brown Theatre; Knoxville, TN, BFA (cum laude)- DePaul University, Chicago IL; Alexander Certification (AmSAT)- ATNYC  Additional training includes: Naropa University, Boulder, CO; SITI Company, NYC; Magdalena Festival Brisbane, AU; European Association for TheatreCulture, Berlin & Moscow

Susan Pilar has performed in New York with Lincoln Center (Broadway), Manhattan Theatre Club, The Public Theatre (NYSF), Ensemble Studio Theatre and The Raw Space (Actor's Studio). Her regional credits include; the Guthrie Theatre, American Conservatory Theatre (ACT) in San Francisco, The Shakespeare Theatre (The Folger), Passage Theatre and the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts. Her TV and Film credits include: Law & Order, The Cosby Show, One Life to Live, Guiding Light and the independent movie, The Waiting Room. Susan moved to New York where she continues to work and live. When not performing, Susan is busy teaching, directing and coaching privately. She is also proud to be a core faculty instructor at the prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where she has been teaching and directing for the past 14 years. Susan also teaches acting and audition technique at the T. Schreiber studio. Currently she co-created The FUSE with casting director Scott Wojcik, which is in its 7th successful year.

Degrees and Studies
MFA, American Conservatory Theatre; BFA, University of Southern California; Fellowship, The Shakespeare Theatre–The Folger: Performance credits include Lincoln Center–Broadway, Manhattan Theatre Club, The Public–NYSF, The Guthrie, Ensemble Studio Theatre; Founder of Reel Intentions, a production company that creates actor demo reels
Janis Powell has trained, directed and coached hundreds of actors, directors, writers and producers working On and Off Broadway, in regional and international theatre and film and television. She has served at The Academy since 1979 as a member of the Core Faculty since its inception, as Director of Instruction of the evening program for 23 years and of the full-time program for three years. Janis has directed more than 50 main-stage productions in New York City, including Off-Broadway's Bartenders, nominated for an Outer Circle Critics Award, Sylvia and Dancing at Lughnasa for The Snarks Ltd., Bedroom Farce at The Gloria Maddux Theatre and An Inspector Calls for the Amateur Comedy Club. She directed 20 productions for The Academy Company, most recently Suddenly Last Summer and Becoming Memories. Janis has taught and directed in many venues including HB Studio, T. Schreiber Studio, The Neighborhood Playhouse, The John Houseman Theater, The University of Texas at Austin and Lexington for the Performing Arts. She is the founder and artistic director of NYC non-profit theatre company Spiral, Inc. and teaches professional acting workshops for Janis Powell Studio in Manhattan.

Degrees and Studies
BFA, Theatre, University of Texas; Trained at Hollins University; Studied acting with William Esper, Herbert Berghof, Gene Frankel and Circle in the Square; Directed and coached hundreds of actors, directors, writers and producers in theatre, film and TV; Founder and Artistic Director of Spiral, Inc. and Janis Powell Studio
Degrees and Studies
MA, Voice Studies, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London; BS, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Worcester State University; Worked at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (MA/MFA Voice Studies), Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, Performance Preparation Academy and College of Staten Island; Professional voice and accent/dialect coach
Degrees and Studies
BA, Drama/Film, University of California, Irvine; Trained at Grotowski Workshop and Circle in the Square; Studied with Robert Cohen, Moni Yakim, Jonah Emsig, Terese Hayden, Jacqueline Brookes, among others; and Combat with B.H. Barry; Extensive experience includes stunt coordinator for TV series and fight coach at Metropolitan Opera 
Degrees and Studies
AOS, American Academy of Dramatic Arts; Stage, film and television actor: Stratford Shakespeare Festival, New York Shakespeare Festival, Theatre for a New Audience, The Public Theater, Hartford Stage Company, Seattle Rep, St. Louis Rep and ABC’s One Life to Live
MM and BM, Vocal Performance, University of Minnesota and New England Conservatory; AmSAT Certified; Faculty of Manhattan School of Music, Respiro Opera and Riverside Initiative for the Alexander Technique; Trained in Jessica Wolf’s Art of Breathing and Betsy Polatin’s The Actor’s Secret Methods; Led Alexander Technique Masterclasses for University of Michigan Musical Theatre Program, University of Illinois-Chicago Theatre Program, National Opera Association’s Eastern Regional Conference, Music Educators Association of NYC/United Federation of Teachers, Freedom to Act and Freedom to Make Music Conferences, American Society for the Alexander Technique Annual Conference and Brooklyn Opera Works’ Summer Vocal Arts Institute
          
 
Degrees and Studies
MFA, Lecoq-based Actor Created Theatre, London International School of Performing Arts and Naropa University; BA, St. Lawrence University; Founding member, Split Knuckle Theatre Company; Teacher, Shakespeare & Company’s Professional Training Program; Actor, fight choreographer and director at Shakespeare & Company
Robert has performed in World Tours with A Chorus Line (Bobby), 42nd Street, and The Wizard of Oz (Scarecrow). Robert has also performed at the Kennedy Center. His appearances include the 35th anniversary celebration (with Angela Landsbury and Celebrate Broadway, with Linda Eder and John Lithgow). Guest Teaching Artist: Stephens Collage, Princeton Dance Theatre, US Performing Arts Camps, The Harkness Center and the Alvin Ailey Extension.
 
Robert’s Choreography credits include: Cats, Evita, Wonderful Town, Carousel, Les Miserables, A Funny thing happened on the way to the Forum and Deborah Gibson live in concert. He assisted choreographed for the feature film The Master of Disguise (with Dana Carvey). He had the opportunity to speak with Academy alumni Florence Henderson after her performance in Off-Broadway's Singular Sensations.  When asked if she had any advice for his students, she said "A teacher at the Academy said something to me that has stayed with me my entire career... Keep a cool head and a warm heart.” Robert most recently filmed an episode for Tru TV’s Caught Red Handed, which will air this fall.
 
Degrees and Studies
Graduate, American Musical and Dramatic Academy; Studied acting with Larry Singer and Randolf Pearson; Dance with Phil Black, Mark Esposito and Casey Colgan; Voice with Meg Bussert and Camille Wiendorn; Experience includes world tours with A Chorus Line (Bobby), 42nd Street and The Wizard of Oz (Scarecrow); Appearances in Secret Lives of Stepford Wives (Jonathan Nyce), “Duck Sauce” music video for Radio Stereo and in The Normal Heart by Larry Kramer, starring Julia Roberts, produced by Brad Pitt