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The Actors Center provides actors with extraordinary creative opportunities designed to advance their artistic development, spark innovation, and cultivate transcendent works of art on stage, on screen, and in communities throughout the United States.

Through our creative residency programs, artist development workshops, advanced training opportunities, and mentorship, we are a leading advocate for the highest levels of excellence in the craft of acting and the theatre, film, and television industries.

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Meet our Resident Company of 300 Actors
Leaders Who Work Throughout Theater, Film, and Television

Our National Reach Over The Past 5 Years

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New York Theater Companies
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Broadway Shows
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Television Series
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Feature Films
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Universities and Schools
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States Across the U.S.

Working with almost every major non-profit theatre in NYC, including the Public Theater, Roundabout, Vineyard, Signature, Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Theatre Club, Theatre for a New Audience, New York Theatre Workshop, and Classic Stage Company.

Including Liberation, Waiting for Godot, Dead Outlaw, Othello, Gypsy, English, Cult of Love, Swept Away, Moulin Rouge, Mother Play, Purlie Victorious, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, Between Riverside and Crazy, Fat Ham, Life of Pi, Leopoldstadt, Funny Girl, The Piano Lesson, A Beautiful Noise, A Strange Loop, Slave Play, and many more.

Including top shows from every network, such as The Gilded Age, The Pitt, Poker Face, Paradise, Elsbeth, Ghosts, Somebody Somewhere, Untamed, The Fall of the House of Usher, Long Bright River, Zero Day, Abbott Elementary, Succession, Ozark, Atlanta, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Billions.

Including Materialists, Relay, Lost & Found in Cleveland, A Complete Unknown, Christy, Ballad of a Small Player, Civil War, Maestro, American Fiction, The Holdovers, Snow White, Dune, The Trial of the Chicago 7, and working with directors Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, Ava Duvernay, and Denzel Washington.

Teaching at training programs across the country including Juilliard, Yale, NYU, Brown, Columbia, USC, A.C.T., Purchase, among others, as well as independent studios and public school programs.

Working at regional theaters and national tours in 40 of 50 states including at the Guthrie, Goodman, Steppenwolf, Arena Stage, Huntington, Yale Rep, Trinity Rep, PlayMakers Rep, Seattle Rep, La Jolla, and Cincinnati Playhouse.

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Recent News & Company Projects

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Company members Ethan Dubin and Celia Keenan-Bolger are in the world premiere of Antigone (This Play I Read in High School), written by Anna Ziegler and directed by Tyne Rafaeli, now playing at The Public Theater. This riveting take on Sophocles’ classic reimagines the story of Oedipus’ daughter Antigone through a bold new lens. The lyrical epic follows a fiercely independent young woman determined to control her own body in a kingdom ruled by archaic laws that regulate women’s autonomy.  It paints a world that is both modern and ancient; a world of lost leaders, hapless cops, and one very righteous daughter on an all-night bender. Performances run through March 29.

Company member Tonya Pinkins is in The Wild Party, with music and lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa, book by Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe, and directed by Lili-Anne Brown, presented as part of New York City Center’s Encores! series. Join Jasmine Amy Rogers as Queenie and Jordan Donica as Burrs for an unforgettable night in the dark underbelly of the city at the end of the 1920s. The cast also includes Adrienne Warren and Jelani Alladin. Full of irreverence, exuberant madness, and joyful defiance, this vivid, jazz-inflected musical adaptation brings Joseph Moncure March’s notorious narrative poem to life. Performances run March 18-29.

Actor and Columbia faculty member Peter Jay Fernandez returns to The Actors Center for a teaching residency, exploring scene study with members of the Resident Company.

Company member Kristin Villanueva and the cast The Pitt were awarded Best Ensemble in a Drama Series at the 32nd annual Actor Awards, presented by SAG-AFTRA. The Pitt, from creator R. Scott Gemmill, is a realistic examination of the challenges facing healthcare workers in America as seen through the lens of the frontline heroes working in a modern-day hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Kristin plays Princess Dela Cruz, a nurse who works in the emergency department. Season two of the series, which also features company member Sepideh Moafi, is now airing on HBO Max. The 32nd annual Actor Awards (formerly known as the SAG Awards) were presented on March 1, 2026, at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los Angeles, CA.

Company member Tina Chilip is in Jesa, written by Jeena Yi and directed by Mei Ann Teo, presented by Ma-Yi Theater Company in residence at The Public Theater. When four estranged Korean American sisters reunite in Orange County to perform their father’s Jesa—a traditional ritual honoring the dead—old wounds erupt, secrets surface, and ghosts (literal and emotional) refuse to stay buried. Jesa asks how we honor our ancestors when we can barely stand each other. Come for the sibling brawls and burning shrimp, stay for the aching truth of what binds us. Performances run through April 12.

Judy Kuhn, actor, singer and company member, and Emmanuelle Delpech, physical theatre artist, director, and teacher, will join The Actors Center’s Resident Company this spring for development workshops exploring acting through song and Neutral Mask.

Company member Madeline Wise is in the feature film Chili Finger, written and directed by Stephen Helstad, and co-directed by Edd Benda, premiering at SXSW, March 14-16 in Austin, TX. The film’s cast includes Judy Greer, Sean Astin, Bryan Cranston, and John Goodman. When Jessica Lipki discovers a severed human finger in her bowl of chili, she recognizes an opportunity to seize control of her stagnating life. Jess blackmails the regionally-beloved fast-food chain for $100,000 in return that she and her blissfully ignorant husband, Ron, keep quiet about the incident. Unbeknownst to Jess, her stunt has caught the attention of “the” Blake Junior, the plutocratic founder behind the “Blake Junior’s” food empire. He recruits his ex-marine buddy, Dave, to investigate Jess and discover the truth behind the chili finger.

Company member Christopher Ryan Grant plays Johnny Cash in The Ballad of Johnny & June, now on tour in the UK and Ireland through September 2026. The musical, which premiered at La Jolla Playhouse in 2024, is directed by Des McAnuff, with a book written by Robert Cary and Des McAnuff. He was a small-town musician and storyteller with a voice that stirred the soul. She was the comedienne of the first family of country music. The Ballad of Johnny & June takes you inside the soaring highs and shattering lows of a love story that defined an era. From the stage to the road, through triumphs, heartbreak, and redemption, this musical shows why Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash remain one of the most influential couples of the 20th Century.

Jeff Hiller appears on Elsbeth in Season 3, Episode 12, “All’s Hair,” on CBS/Paramount+.

 

Perri Gaffney appears on Elsbeth in Season 3, Episode 11, “Ol’ Man Liver,” on CBS/Paramount+.

 

Pun Bandhu appears on Elsbeth in Season 3, Episode 12, “All’s Hair,” on CBS/Paramount+.

 

Christian Coulson appears on The Beauty in Season 1, Episode 11 “Beautiful Betrayal,” on FX/Hulu.

Company member Vivienne Benesch plays Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare and directed by Tracy Bersley, presented by PlayMakers Repertory Company. A warrior’s quest for power leads him down a dark and bloody path. As ambition clashes with guilt and paranoia, the lines between reality and illusion blur. Dare to behold this haunting, spirit-filled exploration of what it means to hold the crown. Performances run through March 22 in Chapel Hill, NC.

The Actors Center hosts an evening of short films written by, directed by, or featuring work from members of our Resident Company on Tuesday, March 24th at 7:00pm at Macaulay Honors College. The event is free and open to the public. RSVP is required.

Company members Peter Jay Fernandez, Sohina Sidhu, and Madeline Wise are in the pilot episode of Birth is for P*ssies, created by and starring Hannah Shealy, premiering as part of SXSW’s Independent TV Pilot Program on March 14 and 17 in Austin, TX. The pilot is co-directed and produced by Celine Sutter. Having quit her corporate job to become a birth doula, chronic people-pleaser Maya quickly discovers that birthwork is nothing like she expected. Her first day is full of surprises: she sees her first cervix, lands her first official client—provided she keeps their precarious secret—and nervously agrees to cover a birth in the Bronx for a fellow doula. After a rocky start, she helps single mother Celeste through a long night of labor, learning to let go of perfection and embrace the chaotic, beautiful mess of supporting birth. Just as the sun rises and she finally heads home, her phone rings: her next client is in labor.

Company member Elizabeth Stahlmann and mentorship program alum Walker Borba are in Rhinoceros, written by Eugene Ionesco and directed by Liz Diamond at Yale Repertory Theatre. An ordinary Sunday in a small French town, Berenger and his friend enjoy a drink on a café terrace. Suddenly a rhinoceros charges across the square, crushing everything in its path. A drunken dream… or…? As neighbors and friends begin sprouting hides and horns, the shy, shambolic Berenger must make a choice: take a stand against–or join–the rampaging herd. Ionesco’s Rhinoceros is his tragicomic cri de cœur, imploring each of us to resist the call to fall in line. Performances run through March 28 in New Haven, CT.

Company member Alison Cimmet is in Barefoot in the Park, written by Neil Simon and directed by Rachel Alderman, at Geva Theatre. Opposites attract in Neil Simon’s celebrated romantic comedy. Newlyweds Paul, a straight-laced lawyer, and Corie, a free-spirit, have barely returned from their honeymoon, and their marriage is already on the fritz, like the telephone line in their new apartment. Corie wants Paul to be more spontaneous and do things like run “barefoot in the park,” and Paul just wants to get a good night’s sleep. When Corie’s prim and proper mother drops by for an unexpected visit, and their eccentric upstairs neighbor, Mr. Velasco, climbs in through their upstairs window, hilarity ensues! This slice of newlywed life is sure to remind even long-married couples of the pleasures and perils of falling in love. Performances run through March 29 in Rochester, NY.

Company member Arturo Luís Soria is in the feature film Mermaid, directed by Fia Perera. Cassie Daniels knows exactly who she is…even if the world refuses to listen. At ten years old, she clings to a shimmering inner truth while navigating schoolyard cruelty, a rigid home, and a body that feels like a cage. One late night by the lake brings her into the orbit of Pepper, a drag queen barely holding herself together, whose life is all sequins, sharp edges, and hard-earned survival. Their meeting sparks an unexpected connection that opens the door to a new kind of family — loud, imperfect, and radically affirming. Mermaid premieres at CineQuest Film & Creativity Festival on March 14 in San Jose, CA.

Company member Becky London is in The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, written by Charles Busch and directed by Gus Kaikkonen at Sarasota Jewish Theatre. When Marcia Taub, a middle-aged Upper West Side Doctor’s wife who is devoted to mornings at the Whitney, afternoons at MOMA and evenings at BAM, plunges into a mid-life crisis the only thing that shakes her out of her lethargy is the reappearance of a fabulous, fascinating and somewhat mysterious childhood friend. Performances run through March 15 in Sarasota, FL.