TEACHING STATEMENT:
“Grounded in the work of my own great teacher, Uta Hagen, my approach is to enable actors to explore, thrive and take risks by teaching universal concepts and techniques of the craft of acting – including new and expanding concepts. In a safe classroom environment, my teaching is a nurturing of the unique and individual needs of each actor by insuring safety and trust in their growth process.”
BIO:
LORRAINE SERABIAN has had a long and varied career as a performer in non-musicals as well as musicals on Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional and International Theatre, TV and Film. She studied extensively and exclusively with Uta Hagen and holds a degree in Theatre Arts from Hofstra University where she was honored with the George M. Estabrooke Award for Distinguished Service in the Arts, accompanied by a citation from the Congress of the United States. She created the role of The Leader on Broadway in Hal Prince’s ZORBA!, for which she received a Tony Award nomination and the Outer Critics Circle Award. (Ms. Serabian also received a Barrymore Award nomination for her performance in the revival.) She starred as Maria Callas in the tour of MASTER CLASS by Terrence McNally sponsored by Hofstra USA and NYSTI (The New York State Theater Institute). Other Broadway credits include CABARET (Hal Prince) and THE FLOWERING PEACH (National Actors Theater, directed by Martin Charnin.) She won the Helen Hayes Award for SHOW ME WHERE THE GOOD TIMES ARE and a Helen Hayes nomination for LUCKY STIFF.
For many years Ms. Serabian divided her time between academia (Empire State College, SUNY) and her acting career. Sabbaticals took her to international and regional theaters stages, where she won critical raves for her performances as Mama Rose in GYPSY, INTO THE WOODS, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM (Pioneer Theatre, Salt Lake City), ON THE TOWN (Arena Stage, Washington, D.C.), RUMORS (Walnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia), FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera), 42ND ST. (Berlin, Germany), etc., etc.
Off-Broadway appearances include Lita Encore in RUTHLESS, THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY, Euripides’ ELECTRA, THE TROJAN WOMEN, Moliere’s THE MISER and THE WILD PARTY (Columbia Stages).
New York workshops include the original production of KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, THE RINK (Kander, Ebb). She created the role of LaStella in the PBS special A TALE OF CINDERELLA (NYSTI) and starred in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF for Austin Musicals in Texas and won the Austin Critics Award for her interpretation of Golde.
Her television credits include LAW AND ORDER: SVU, THE SOPRANOS, ALL MY CHILDREN, THE JIM GAFFIGAN SHOW, and Amy Poehler’s DIFFICULT PEOPLE.
She directed 70 GIRLS 70 (Kander and Ebb) and moderated an evening with John Kander live at HB Studio’s HB Playwrights Theatre, MERCIFUL DELUSIONS — an evening of Tennessee Williams one act plays — at the Mile High Theater in Hoboken, Studio 54, and the HB Playwrights Theatre. Ms. Serabian will be directing a staged reading of Horton Foote’s A TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL in Spring 2022, and will restage MERCIFUL DELUSIONS, a presentation of Four One Act Plays by Tennessee Williams, at Theatre Row in November 2022.