FACULTY
During any one semester, students train with as many as twenty core faculty members and guest artists, all of whom work professionally in New York, Los Angeles and other major theater centers around the world.
Jeff Janisheski
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, NTI
Prior to his appointment as Artistic Director of NTI, Jeff was Associate Artistic Director at Classic Stage Company in New York where he created its education program and assisted in the production of shows that featured the work of: Walter Bobbie, Anne Bogart, Brian Kulick, Zoe Caldwell, Alan Cumming, Michael Cumpsty, Richard Easton, Martha Plimpton, the SITI Company, John Turturro and Dianne Wiest. His directing work has been seen in NYC at The Cherry Lane Theatre, Classic Stage, Dixon Place, Japan Society and New York Theatre Workshop Studio. Jeff has taught theatre at Smith College, Fordham University and Dowling College, and has led workshops at Amherst, Colgate, Columbia, the New School, NYU, SUNY Purchase and Yale. He studied noh theater and butoh dance for three years in Japan and trained intensively with Anne Bogart and the SITI Company. In 2003 he co-founded the biennial New York Butoh Festival. He is a graduate of Amherst College and received an MFA in theater directing from Columbia University.
Michael Cadman
NTI VISITING ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
A Graduate of The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and before that a leading member of Britain’s National Youth Theatre, Michael Cadman has enjoyed a long career in British theater, television and film. He began teaching at The National Theater Institute in 1994 after close to five years with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and has also taught at De Trap, one of Amsterdam’s foremost theater schools, and The London Centre for Theatre Studies. He was NTI’s Artistic Director from 2006-2008.
Kathleen Baum
BIOMECHANICS
A professional actress and teacher at Syracuse University. Studied with Gennadi Bogdanov, one of Russia's leading inheritors of the legacy of Meyerhold's Biomechanics.
Adam Bock
PLAYWRIGHT'S WEEK
Award-winning published playwright and teacher. In NYC: The Receptionist at Manhattan Theatre Club and The Drunken City at Playwrights Horizons. Resident playwright at Encores Theater in NYC. Member of the MCC Playwrights’ Coalition and the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab.
Per Brahe
MASK
World-renowned mask teacher and master teacher of Michael Chekhov technique. Workshops at the Stella Adler Academy, the International Michael Chekhov Conference and the Actors Center. Faculty member at The Yale School of Drama and NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
Elaine Bromka
ACTING FOR THE CAMERA
Extensive film, TV, Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional theater work. The mom in Uncle Buck, Emmy award winner for Catch a Rainbow.
David Chandler
TAI CHI & STAGE COMBAT
Teaching credits include the Ensemble Studio Theater, INTAR Theater, Omega Institute and Connecticut College. Fight choreographer for Yale Shakespeare Club and Wellesley Shakespeare Club. Director of Eagle's Quest Tai Chi Center.
Jeremy B. Cohen
DIRECTING LAB
Associate Artistic Director, Hartford Stage. Award winning off-Broadway and regional directing credits include 15 years with Chicago’s Naked Eye Theater Company.
Peg Denithorne
ACTING/DIRECTING
Director and teacher for over 20 years. Ensemble Studio Theatre, Circle Rep LAB, Juilliard in NYC; Theater J, Rep Stage in DC. Has taught in MFA Acting/Directing programs at Rutgers and Catholic University. Artistic Director: New York State Summer School of the Arts.
Donna DiNovelli
PLAYWRITING
Writer for musical theater, stage and radio. 2000 O’Neill NMTC Alum, MTC Fellow, finalist for Richard Rogers Award. Has had radio plays broadcast by the BBC. Faculty, Tisch Graduate Music Theater Writing. Work performed at the New York City Opera, Joseph Papp Public Theater, Mark Taper Forum and most recently at the Guthrie Theater with Little House on the Prairie.
Colman Domingo
ACTING & AUDITIONING
Broadway: Passing Strange (the musical) for which he originated the role. Off-Broadway credits: The Public Theater, MCC, NYSF and the Summer Play Festival. Regional credits: A.C.T., Berkeley Rep, The Guthrie, Huntington and San Jose Rep.
Wendy C. Goldberg
DIRECTING LAB
Artistic Director of the O’Neill’s National Playwrights Conference. Directing credits: Actors Theater of Louisville, Denver Center, Florida Stage, Mark Taper Forum, New Dramatists, Playwrights Horizons and Woolly Mammoth.
Rachel Jett
DROZNIN RUSSIAN MOVEMENT
Former member, Stanislavsky Theatre Studio, Washington, DC. Trained at the Schukin College of Theater Arts, Vakhtangov Theatre, Russia. Movement protegé to Andrei Droznin. 1994 NTI and 1995 MATS Alum.
Gillian Lane-Plescia
SPEECH & DIALECT
Dialect coach for Guthrie, Yale Rep, McCarter, CenterStage, Hartford Stage, Actors Theatre Louisville, Long Wharf, Seattle Rep among many others. Faculty member at Juilliard. Creator of a leading series of self-teaching dialect CDs.
G.W. Mercier
DESIGN
Tony Award nominee and two time Drama Desk nominee. Broadway credits include Juan Darien, A Carnival Mass by Julie Taymor and Elliot Goldenthal, and Ballad of Little Jo.
Elizabeth Rothan
ACTING/VOICE
New York City acting credits include The Pulse Ensemble, Cymbeline and Top Girls. Regional credits: Circle Theatre, Theater Three, Dallas Theater Center and Undermain Theater.
Erica Schmidt
DIRECTING LAB
Directing credits include: Shakespeare at The Public Theater; new works at Playwrights Horizons, Second Stage, Play Company; musicals and Chekhov at Paper Mill Playhouse, Bard SummerScape.
Rebecca B. Taichman
DIRECTING LAB
Creator/Director The People vs. ‘The God of Vengeance’, Yale School of Drama. OBIE winner, Menopausal Gentleman. Production work with Anna Deveare Smith; Drama League Fellow.
Anne Tofflemire
SINGING
Backstage Bistro award winning Cabaret and stage performer, with notable performances from DC to San Francisco and London’s West End.
Joseph Urla
ACTING
Theatre credits include Yale Rep, Williamstown, Second Stage, New York Shakespeare Festival, Mark Taper Forum, La Jolla Playhouse, and Actors Theatre of Louisville, among others. He has performed extensively on television and film, including the critically acclaimed film Indictment, for HBO.
Marya Ursin
YOGA & MASK MAKING
Artistic Director, writer, performer Mystic Paper Beasts, and Director of Dragon's Egg. Currently also a dancer in the NYC based company SITU. Trained and taught at Merce Cunningham Studio; L’Ecole de Mime Marceau, Paris. Licensed massage therapist and yoga instructor.
Preston Whiteway
PRODUCING FOR THEATER
Serves as the Executive Director of The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, overseeing its programs and directing strategic planning and fundraising efforts. He received a B.A. in Economics from Duke University.
Derron M. Wood
DIRECTING LAB
Executive Artistic Director, Flock Theater; Associate Artist National Puppetry Conference. Twenty years directing, New England region and Off-Broadway. Recipient, Connecticut Master Teaching Artist. Studied under Morris Carnovsky.
Due to professional obligations, faculty may vary each semester.
O'NEILL NATIONAL THEATER INSTITUTE STAFF
Jeff Janisheski
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Jean Routt
EXECUTIVE ADMINISTRATOR
Helga Twomey
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
Michael Cadman
VISITING ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
