AMDA News

The AMDA Community mourns the loss of former LA dance faculty member, Sean Viator. [more]

The 66th annual GRAMMY Awards held great significance for the AMDA Community. [more]

The AMDA classroom is Jason Chaet’s springboard for success. [more]

AMDA's National Director of Creative Programming, Marina Benedict, answers Backstage’s ongoing questionnaire as part of the "Reaching Higher" series! [more]

Stu joined our AMDA family right at the very beginning of AMDA LA in the Fall of 2003. And by the end of that semester, he had already become an iconic figure for us all. [more]

When Cain DeVore is not teaching on-camera courses at AMDA Los Angeles, he is typically busy working as an actor, writer, producer, or director. As a faculty member and a film creator, he takes pride in his work, especially when he can bring his two worlds together. [more]

A funny, wistful and heartfelt story centered around the life of a struggling actor in New York City is told in the new feature film Seneca, co-written, produced, and directed by AMDA Acting Faculty Jason Chaet. The film will premiere at HBO’s New York Latino Film Festival on Friday, Aug. 16th at AMC Empire 25 located in the 42nd Street Entertainment Center. [more]

OVATION AWARDS - NOMINEES ANNOUNCED Congratulations to AMDA Faculty member Thomas O’Leary for the direction of 33 Variations nominated for 8 ovation awards. [more]

4 AMDA Alumni, 1 AMDA Faculty Member, and a fabulous musical, Lin Manuel Miranda Style. - IN THE HEIGHTS at Musical Theatre West [more]

AMDA faculty Marina Benedict (“Flesh and Bone,” “Torchwood”) has been cast opposite returning stars Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell in Fox’s highly anticipated “Prison Break” revival, a nine-episode mini-series following the original award-winning action drama. [more]

Training a machine gun platoon in the heart of Australia, AMDA stage combat instructor Charles Currier found himself face-to-face with executive producer Tom Hanks, who wished to speak to the military tech team about his vision for HBO’s Emmy-winning miniseries “The Pacific.” “If this doesn’t look like documentary footage shot in HD from 1945,” Hanks said, “I’m sending you all home. Your job is to make it look... [more]

Want to learn to sing? Here are three tips to develop smart practice techniques and unlock your potential as a vocal artist while keeping your instrument healthy. [more]

We are pleased to announce that AMDA’s own Barbara Schofield (Broadway World Nomination, Best Director) will be performing as Monica in the Open Fist Theatre Company’s upcoming workshop production of Murray Mednick’s The Gary Plays! Set in Los Angeles, The Gary Plays take a look at life in 21^st-century America, offering a profound, darkly humorous perspective on the convoluted relationships between people and the way we change over time. [more]

We recently caught up with AMDA acting professor Markus Potter, who in May received an Outer Critics Circle nomination for a John Gassner Playwriting Award for Stalking the Bogeyman. Below, you'll get the inside scoop on his many upcoming projects. But first he offered some terrific tips to actors on making monologue selections and on choosing a college acting program. [more]

Congratulations to AMDA Los Angeles Dance Department Co-Chair  Marina Benedict ("Burn Notice," "Torchwood," "ER") who has been tapped to join Starz’s new drama series "Flesh and Bone" from Emmy Award winning writer and executive producer Moira Walley-Beckett ("Breaking Bad") and Academy Award Nominated Executive producer Lawrence Bender (Pulp Fiction, Inglorious Bastards). [more]

Congratulations to AMDA MTP Faculty Igor Goldin who recently took home the 2013 New York Musical Theatre Festival Award for Excellence in Directing for his work on the new musical Crossing Swords. [more]

AMDA is proud to announce the premiere issue of our revamped magazine, Spotlight. As "The Magazine of the AMDA Community," Spotlight features campus news and events, photo galleries, informative features and interviews, and updates on alumni and faculty. [more]

AMDA LA Stage Combat Department works to train AMDA students and alumni in a variety of fight techniques as part of a top notch program that is recognized by the internationally renowned Society of American Fight Directors. In addition to our current AMDA students, any AMDA alumnus who has taken up to Stage Combat 3 is welcome to submit him or herself for the opportunity to come back and prepare for the Skills Proficiency Test with AMDA faculty Lacy Altwine. [more]

AMDA LA recently produced another successful production of Dance Workshop (our main stage Dance Theatre performance) on our outdoor stage in the middle of Hollywood, from August 23-26, 2012. The cast included 40 dancers including understudies. We spoke with the director Marina Benedict, AMDA's Associate Chair of Dance, to find out all that goes into bringing this spectacular event to life. [more]

AMDA Acting Faculty Jason Chaet directed the most recent production of the AMDA Drama Showcase at AMDA NY on August 28- Sept 1, 2012. We spoke with Jason to get a director's perspective on what goes into the Studio Conservatory productions. [more]

Congratulations to AMDA Faculty member Michael Zelniker and our AMDA alumni in Falling... for taking home the Best of Festival Award at Indie Fest USA International Film Festival! [more]

AMDA Congratulates Faculty member Billy Johnstone on his international directorial debut directing the Brazilian premiere of FAME the Musical at the Teatro Frei Caneca in São Paulo! Billy had the opportunity to work with several AMDA alumni in Brazil, including Bia Lucci and Carina Gregorio. We spoke with him to get a feel for what it was like to direct a production in Brazil. [more]

AMDA salutes faculty member Robert Manning Jr. for his upcoming debut in Magic/Bird on Broadway. Robert will play the multiple roles of Michael Cooper, Henry Alvarado and Frank. The new play is based upon the story of basketball’s fiercest rivalry between Hall of Famers Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Larry Bird. Exploring their relationship from Draft to Olympic Dream Team, the show with a six member cast will premiere at the Longacre Theatre on Broadway, New York City, March 21, 2012. [more]

AMDA's own Jim Elliott has created a new podcast for actors that will feature some of today’s most inspiring artists sharing their own secrets of the craft in an instructive interview series called The State of Shakespeare. [more]

Casey Colgan (AMDA Dance Faculty) is directing Dream Girls at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina in Hilton Head Island, SC. The production will open on September 30th and features SEVEN AMDA alumni! Also of note, the cast will be dressed in costumes from the original Broadway production of Dream Girls, designed by the late Oscar and Tony Award winning costume designer Theoni V. Aldredge. [more]

Congratulations to AMDA faculty member Jay Dias! Jay has been hard at work restoring the original orchestrations for Gypsy at the Lyric Stage in Dallas, featuring a 39 piece orchestra playing the full orchestrations for the first time since the original Broadway production starring Ethel Merman ended in 1961. The rave reviews for Gypsy are now coming in droves (see below) and Jay has been honored by the Dallas Fort Worth Theatre Critics Forum as the Best of the 2010-'11 Season: Jay Dias as Outstanding Creative Contribution as Music Director for his 2010-'11 season work with Lyric Stage. [more]

Spencer Beglarian, a beloved educator, award-winning screenwriter, actor, director, and producer, died on April 19, 2011, of lung cancer, at his home in Los Angeles, surrounded by family and friends. He was 50. [more]

Please join family, friends and the AMDA Community celebrate Spencer's life. We especially welcome Spencer's beloved students from FIDM and USC. [more]

Dear AMDA Community,
We have very sad news to share with you. We have just learned that our dear, beloved Spencer Beglarian died at his home yesterday, Wednesday, April 19th. He was in no pain and was surrounded by his family. [more]