Faculty

Best known for his role as George Costanza in the television series Seinfeld, Jason Alexander won the Tony for Jerome Robbins’ Broadway in 1989 for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. He also starred on Broadway in the original productions of Merrily We Roll Along, The Rink, and Broadway Bound. Additional Broadway credits include Fish in the Dark and Accomplice. He starred as Max Bialystock in the Los Angeles production of The Producers. His dozens of film and TV credits include Pretty Woman, Shallow Hal, Young Sheldon, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Simpsons and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Richard Berent has had a long career as pianist, music educator, vocal coach, composer, church musician, and music director. His longest association has been with AMDA LA music faculty, where his work continues. Recent musical directing includes Putting It Together, Side By Side By Sondheim, Sunday In The Park, and many others. Internationally, he’s performed in Japan, China, and the cruise ship scene. His children’s musicals Snow White and Goldilocks are in ongoing rotation at Theatre West. He has been an active participant in the cabaret scene of Los Angeles, and Detroit before that.

Carmen Cusack originated the roles of Alice Murphy and Clare Boothe Luce in the Broadway musicals Bright Star and Flying Over Sunset, both of which earned her Tony Award Nominations. She also earned a 2016 Theatre World Award for Bright Star. She playied Elphaba in the North American Tour, and Chicago and Melbourne, Australia productions of Wicked. She also played Nellie Forbush in the 2008 National Tour of South Pacific, and Christine in the UK tour of The Phantom of the Opera. In the West End she has appeared as Fantine in Les Miserables and appeared in The Secret Garden, and Personals.

Dan Fishbach has been a theatre director, producer and teacher for 25 years. Recent directing credits include Crazy For You and Noises Off (Oklahoma City,) Side by Side by Sondheim, Jacques Brel…, (Odyssey Theatre) Assassins (Pico Playhouse/Broadway World Award Nom.), the international tour of One Night Stand: An Improvised Musical for producer Marc Platt (Wicked), Steven Dietz’s Private Eyes, Nicky Silver’s The Maiden’s Prayer (The Raven Theatre), the world premier of Anthony Mora’s play Silencing Silas, as well as HAIR (collaboration with original author James Rado,) The 25th Annual Putnam Co. Spelling Bee, Chicago, Company and Spring Awakening (USC’s School of Dramatic Arts.) He has been on the faculty at Oklahoma City University (Theatre & Musical Theatre Faculty,) USC School of Dramatic Arts (Directing & Musical Theatre Faculty,) Cal Poly Pomona, Santa Monica College, The American Musical and Dramatic Academy (where he developed and taught courses in the History of Musical Theatre), and Harvard-Westlake School, where he was Head of Performing Arts for six years. From 2006-2008 Fishbach served as the Director of The Groundlings Theatre and School. Dan (with Mark Kaufmann) is the co-founder of The Los Angeles Musical Theatre Studio, a training ground for professional actors. His production company, Page One Productions, produced the critically acclaimed An Oak Tree by Tim Crouch at The Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles, which featured actors Jason Alexander, Alan Cumming, John Rubinstein, Alanis Morissette, Peter Gallagher, Alex Kingston and Wendie Malick among several others. It was described by Variety as a “celebration of pure theater’s power.” His students have been seen on Broadway, off Broadway, in regional theatre, on film and television. A graduate of Kenyon College in Ohio and The National Theatre Institute, Fishbach is an alumnus of the Director’s Lab West and a proud member of SDC, The Society of Directors and Choreographers and Actors Equity Association (AEA).

Jason Graae has been featured on Broadway in A Grand Night For Singing, Falsettos, Stardust, Snoopy!, Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? Off- Bway shows include Hello, Muddah, Hello Fadduh (Drama Desk Nomination- Best Actor in a Musical) , Forever Plaid, Olympus On My Mind, Spamilton, etc. Jason recently played the Wizard of Oz in the National Tour of Wicked. Jason has performed his one man show all over the U.S.,including NYC’s Rainbow and Stars, Birdland, 54 Below, The Green Room and more. He has won 4 Bistro Awards and 2 New York Nightlife Awards. The Prince and the Showboy, his critically acclaimed show with Faith Prince also won a Nightlife Award and a Robby. Happily Ever Laughter, his show with Liz Callaway, has won no awards but his Mom loved it. His numerous LA credits include Forbidden Hollywood and Forbidden Bway Y2KLA! (Ovation Award) as well as Jerry Herman’s The Grand Tour at The Colony Theatre, The Merry Widow and The Grand Duchess with L.A. Opera, and The Music Man & Guys and Dolls at The Hollywood Bowl. Jason originated Houdini in the US premiere of Ragtime at The Shubert Theatre. ( Remember the Shubert Theatre?) He won a special LA Drama Critics Circle Award for Outstanding contribution to Musical Theatre. TV shows include Six Feet Under, Rude Awakening, Friends, Frasier, Sabrina, etc. On PBS, he guest starred twice on Evening at Pops, as well as Holiday for the Troops with Marvin Hamlisch, and Words & Music by Jerry Herman. For 5 years he was the voice of Lucky for Lucky Charms Cereal, a balanced part of your complete breakfast. Movie appearances include Home on the Range, On Edge, Awakening of Spring, etc. He can be heard on over 70 original cast, studio and solo recordings. Recent credits include directing “Follies” at the Broad in Santa Monica for Musical Theatre Guild, and a tribute to Stephen Flaherty at Carnegie Hall.

Erika Henningsen is a Bay Area native and is most known for originating the starring role of Cady Heron in the hit, Tony-nominated musical, Mean Girls. She was reunited with Tina Fey when she went on to recur as Young Gloria on Peacock’s acclaimed series, Girls5Eva. Other theater credits include Fantine opposite Ramin Karimloo in the recent revival of Les Miserables. She originated the title role of Joy in the Broadway-bound musical adaptation, based on the life of Joy Managano, which premiered at the George Street Playhouse. Other roles: Nellie Forbush in South Pacific & Sophie in Mamma Mia! (PCLO), Nina in the Dear World opposite Tyne Daly. Her solo show, “Raise Your Standards” has played to sold out venues in New York City, Indianapolis, Napa Valley & San Francisco. She will be debuting her solo symphony show with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra in April. Additional TV credits include CBS All Access’ Blue Bloods and FBI: International, HBO’s That D*mn Michael Che and Tracy Oliver’s original comedy, Harlem, for Amazon. She can be heard as the leading voice actor, Charlie Morningstar, in Amazon/A24’s musical animation series, Hazbin Hotel. As an educator, Erika has had the privilege to teach at institutions such as Cap21/NYU Tisch, Pace University in NYC, TheaterCNU in Virginia, Chapman University, CSFullerton, University of Michigan’s summer conservatory (MPULSE), the Berklee College of Music and several pre-professional programs in New York, including Broadway Workshop and Broadway Artists Alliance. She is on faculty at The Performing Arts Project in North Carolina, and works specifically with their pre-college students every summer to prepare applications for their future university auditions. Her goal as a teacher is to cultivate educational environments and classrooms rooted in positivity and curiosity. By throwing out the concept of right/wrong, and working from a place of joy and instinct, we can more successfully access what makes our talents not simply unique but powerful.

Mark D. Kaufmann has directed numerous musical productions for the York Theatre in New York City, and 42nd St. Moon in San Francisco among other companies. Specializing in rarely produced shows, his credits include Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s “Sweet Adeline”, Kern and Otto Harbach’s “The Cat and the Fiddle”, George S. Kaufman and Sir Arthur Sullivan’s “Hollywood Pinafore”, and Alan Jay Lerner and Andre Previn’s “Coco”. A playwright, his plays, “Evil Little Thoughts”, “Backbone of America”, “The End of Civilization As We Know It” and others, have been produced in New York, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and around the country. For the Jerome Kern Centennial Festival at Carnegie Hall in New York City, Mark wrote a new book for Jerome Kern’s 1919 musical, “Zip! Goes A Million”. He also served as director for that concert production. Most recently, he co-wrote a new musical, “Painting The Clouds With Sunshine”, utilizing songs from movies of the 1930’s. He also directed the award-winning San Francisco production. His plays have been published in Dramatics magazine, and by Dramatic Publishing and Playscripts, Inc. Mark also served as associate producer on a series of albums of rarely recorded theater and film music from the early part of the 20th century on the Shadowland lable. Titles include “Sing Before Breakfast”, and “Life’s A Funny Present.” Mark has taught USC’s Summer Musical Theater program, AMDA Los Angeles, and has been mentor and director for the Harvard-Westlake school’s young Playwright’s Festival. He teaches musical performance, directing, and acting at theater conferences around the country. He has a BS in Speech/Theater from Northwestern University, studied at the Wharton school, studied dance with Fred Kelly (Gene’s brother), and acting with Stella Adler and the HB school in New York.

Vicki Lewis’s Broadway credits included Countess Lili in Anastasia, Velma Kelly in Chicago, and Gloria Thorpe in Damn Yankees. She was a soloist with the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall and she starred opposite Patty Lupone and Peter Gallagher in Pal Joey for Encores at NY’s City Center. She starred in The Crucible at The Roundabout Theatre. She received an Ovation Award for her performance in Michael John Lachuisa’s Hotel C’est LAmore at The Blank, and she was nominated for an Ovation Award for How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying for REPRISE. Her voice can be heard in a myriad of animation projects including the film FINDING NEMO. She is known to TV audiences around the world as Beth from NEWSRADIO and has an extensive body of work on television and in film. Vicki is on the faculty at the USC School of Dramatic Arts.

The son of Havana-born author and vision scientist Jacob and social worker Marsha, Erik was born in Miami, Florida. He was mentored by Maureen Stapleton, named a YoungArts winner in high school, and trained at London’s Complicité and National Theatre, where he came under the wing of Judi Dench. He received a grant to study with master clown teacher Philippe Gaulier in France, and in Los Angeles, was the face of noted improv-and-sketch-comedy school, The Groundlings.Liberman was “discovered” by 21-time Tony Award winning director and producer Harold Prince as a winner of the Lotte Lenya Competition. Prince hired him for his Broadway debut in Lovemusik, written by Oscar winner Alfred Uhry and starring Tony winners Donna Murphy and Michael Cerveris, remarking of the actor, “Erik is the real deal. Once you’ve seen him, you can’t forget him.”Liberman went on to receive Helen Hayes, Ovation, Garland, Connecticut Critics Circle and NYMF Awards, his onstage work reviewed as “a showcase of sheer star power.” He originated the roles of The Telephone Guy in the award-winning The Band’s Visit opposite Tony Shalhoub, Charles Revson opposite Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole in War Paint, and Clopin, King of the Gypsies, in Alan Menken, Stephen Schwartz, and Peter Parnell’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame.Other theatre highlights include: Motel the Tailor in Fiddler on the Roof opposite Harvey Fierstein and the film’s star, Topol, and co-direction of Raising the Roof, the show’s all-star, 50th anniversary celebration at Town Hall; acclaimed portrayals of comedian Groucho Marx Off Broadway and at The White House; major revivals of Stephen Sondheim musicals; and choreography for Mabou Mines Dollhouse, which played Off Broadway twice and toured the world. He has participated in the development of new works at Sundance Theatre Lab,, appeared in benefit concerts under the auspices of Sondheim, Lin Manuel Miranda, and Carol Burnett, on television in Transparent, Modern Family, and HBO’s Vinyl, among others, and in the upcoming film, American Dream with Alfred Molina.Liberman has contributed essay to The Huffington Post and The Hollywood Reporter, and to books including Performance of the Century and, with his father, Wisdom From an Empty Mind and Luminous Life: How the Science of Light Unlocks the Art of Living. He is currently developing a TV series, new book, and documentary,. His master class series, Bridge to Broadway, benefited 45 charities and earned him am Encore Award from The Actors Fund. He is an advocate for causes which have affected him and those he loves, including climate change, BLM, and the rights of the LGBTQIA+ and disabled communities. Joan Juliet Buck, former editor-in-chief of French Vogue,described Erik’s work as “multifaceted, irreducible, and astonishing.”

For the past four decades, FAITH PRINCE has dazzled audiences on both stage and screen in a variety of memorable comedic and dramatic roles. She quickly rose to Broadway fame after winning a Tony Award, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Award for her performance as Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls directed by Jerry Zaks, and has remained one of the most prolific leading ladies working in the American musical theater. For her Broadway debut in Jerome Robbins Broadway, Ms. Prince was nominated for her first Tony Award and Drama Desk Award, and has since starred in over a dozen Broadway shows: Nick & Nora (Outer Critics Circle nomination), Guys and Dolls, What’s Wrong With This Picture, The King and I, Little Me, James Joyce’s The Dead, Bells Are Ringing (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics nominations), Noises Off, Disney’s The Little Mermaid, A Catered Affair (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics nominations), Annie, and Disaster. Also in New York, she originated the role of Trina in William Finn and James Lapine’s Falsettoland and can be heard on the cast recording. Equally present on screen, Ms. Prince made her television debut guest starring opposite Pierce Brosnan on the hit series “Remington Steele” followed by playing Angela Virago in the 1985 film The Last Dragon. She has appeared in numerous films including: Dave with Kevin Kline, My Father the Hero with Gerard Depardieu, Picture Perfect with Jennifer Aniston, Our Very Own, It Had to Be You, Material Girls, and Disney’s TinkerBell and the Great Fairy Rescue. Faith is perhaps more widely recognized for the many colorful characters she has created on television including recently: Nellie Cantrell on the 2022 Fox series “Monarch” and Judith Robertson in “Emily in Paris”, as well as Kristy Swenson in “Scream Queens”, Elaine Bingum in “Drop Dead Diva”, Claudia in “Spin City”, Kelly Knippers in “Huff”, “Modern Family”, “CSI”, “Ugly Betty”, “Grey’s Anatomy”, “Monk”, “House”, “Now and Again” and television movies including most recently “Dear Christmas” for Lifetime. Audiences can now stream her many live appearances, including performances from The Tony Awards, “My Favorite Broadway” at Carnegie Hall, and An Evening At The Pops: A Tribute to Jerry Herman” (PBS). In addition to the original cast recordings, she has two solo albums “A Leap of Faith” (DRG, 2000) and “Total Faith” (Broadway Records, 2013). Faith can frequently be seen in concert and her symphony appearances include Boston Pops, Utah Symphony, Orlando Philharmonic, Cincinnati Pops, and Philly Pops, and Sydney Opera House and the Adelaide Music Festival with Anthony Warlow. Born in Georgia and raised in Virginia, Faith received a BFA in musical theater from University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music before moving to New York and making her professional debut in Scrambled Feet. a revue at The Village Gate Theater. She then succeeded Ellen Greene as Audrey in the original New York and Los Angeles productions of Little Shop of Horrors. In 2009, Ms. Prince was honored by her alma mater with an Honorary Doctorate of Performing Arts.

John Rubinstein is an actor, director, composer, singer and teacher. He was born in Los Angeles, California in 1946, the same year his father, the renowned Polish-born concert pianist Arthur Rubinstein, became an American citizen. Acting: Broadway: originated the title role in Pippin (Theater World Award), Children Of A Lesser God (1980 Tony Award, Drama Desk, L.A. Drama Critics Circle, and Drama-Logue Awards), Fools, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (Drama Desk nomination), Hurlyburly, M. Butterfly, Love Letters, Getting Away With Murder, Ragtime, and in 2014, the revival of Pippin; off-Broadway: Counsellor-at-Law (Lucille Lortel Award, Outer Critics’ Circle and Drama League nominations), Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead, Urban Blight, Cabaret Verboten; regional theater: Wicked, Ragtime (L.A. Drama Critics Circle, Drama-Logue Awards), Camelot, South Pacific, Streamers, Candida, Sight Unseen, Broken Glass, Merrily We Roll Along, The Tempest, Arms And The Man, Enigma Variations (in Toronto and London), and the original world premiere productions of Love Letters, Kiss Of The Spider Woman, Grumpy Old Men, and Three Hotels; the national companies of Pippin (2014-16) and On A Clear Day You Can See Forever. Feature films include Hello, I Must Be Going, Atlas Shrugged Part II, 21 Grams, Red Dragon, Kid Cop, Mercy, Another Stakeout, Someone To Watch Over Me, Daniel, Choose Connor, The Boys From Brazil, Zachariah, Getting Straight, The Trouble With Girls, Sublime, Rome and Jewel, Jekyll, and The Car. On TV: starred in two series, Crazy Like A Fox and Family (Emmy Award nomination), and acted in over 200 films and episodes, including The American Clock (CableAce Award nomination), When We Rise, Mrs. Harris, The Sleepwalker, and Norma and Marilyn. Directed Phantasie, Nightingale, and The Old Boy off-Broadway, The Rover and Les Liaisons Dangereuses at Williamstown, Wait Until Dark at the Cape Playhouse; Counsellor-at-Law (L.A. Drama Critics Circle and Drama-Logue Awards for acting and co-directing, Ovation Awards for Ensemble Acting and Sound Design), A Little Night Music, The Music Man, The Rivals, Into The Woods, and Guys and Dolls at Interact Theatre Company in Los Angeles, the TV films A Matter Of Conscience (Emmy Award: Best Children’s Special) and Summer Stories, an episode of the CBS series Nash Bridges, and three episodes of the TV series High Tide. Composed musical scores to five movies, among them Jeremiah Johnson and The Candidate, and to over 75 TV films and series, including The Dollmaker, Amber Waves, Family, and China Beach. Taught a drama class to underprivileged children in the Culver City Parks Department in 1969. At NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, he directed Chekhov’s Three Sisters and Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and taught an acting workshop creating a dramatization of Tolstoy’s War and Peace. For two years, he was the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s host for their seasons of Youth Concerts at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. At UCLA’s Department of Theater, he directed Sondheim and Furth’s Company to inaugurate the Ray Bolger estate’s Musical Theater Program. Radio host of “Carnegie Hall Tonight” for six years. Recorded over 150 audiobooks, including 31 of Jonathan Kellerman’s Alex Delaware novels. Played keyboards and composed and sang in the rock group Funzone. Hosted the online webcast of the 14th International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition from Moscow.

Sal Sabella has worked from coast to coast and all over the globe. His pursuits have landed him some iconic stages and on original cast recordings of GODSPELL(2001 National Tour) and KRISTINA (Carnegie and Royal Albert Hall), numerous regional shows: [title of show] (Regional Premiere), MAN OF LA MANCHA, CAMELOT, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, THE DROWSY CHAPERONE… and he also was hand-picked for the Allstars cast of THE MUSIC OF ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER which then created an opportunity to become the Phantom cover in the Broadway National Tour of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. In 2019, he received his Masters in Theatre from Emerson College in Boston and soon after moved to Los Angeles. Along the way he has taught masterclasses at Northeastern University and throughout the county. He’s most recently added the role of faculty member at AMDA Los Angeles, where he has taught their technique and styles classes, directed productions of SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD and NOW. HERE. THIS. and is part of their adjudication process. He is passionate about creating authentic, connected, specific work that engages audiences. He generously shares his experience, technique and tools with his students with the goal of empowering them to do their best work whether on stage, on camera, or in the audition room.