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1982 – 1983

Such wonderful memories! I studied there from September ’82 to May ’83 under the one and only Stephen Strimpell! I was so upset when I learned he had passed away. Might my muffin tins used for a scene from Crimes of the Heart still be there?!!

1975 – 1980

Although I studied for 5 years in Ms. Hagen’s class, from 1975-1980, and worked as a registrar in the front office, as Marlene Mancini’s assistant and did payroll and bookkeeping for the Studio, my first class at HB was with Herbert Berghof. As a new college graduate back in New York, fresh out of the Northwestern University theater department, my first meeting with him was unforgettable. Trembling, I introduced myself, Dan Schweid (my last name is Shaw now), and he drawled, in his lovely Viennese accent, “Are you related to Mark Schweid?” My jaw dropped and I said, “Yes, he was my grandfather.” Herbert proceeded to tell me that he and my grandfather were in a Theater Guild production together in the 1940s, of a play called “The Russian People,” an adaptation by Clifford Odets of a Russian play. He told me that one night, at the end of Act II, my grandfather forgot his dramatic closing line, and improvised something instead that left everyone on stage broken up with laughter as the curtain came down. Laughing with the memory, Herbert said, “Alright, you can be in my class, but we’ll see if you’re as good as your grandfather.” As thrilling as it was to be accepted into Herbert’s class, it was even more wonderful to learn that my grandfather, who was very ill as I grew up and whom I never really got to know, was an actor admired and remembered by the great Herbert Berghof.

1986 –

I began studying at HB as a singer, taking all of the Musical Theatre classes available, particularly those of Helen Gallagher. In large part, because of my work with her, I was awarded a Fellowship at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center Cabaret Symposium, where I had the privilege of working with such legendary performers as the late Julie Wilson and Margaret Whiting. On returning to HB, I felt that studying acting would help greatly with my interpretation and performance of lyrics and musical roles, and began working with the late Bill Hickey. I went on to study with the great Anne Jackson, in whose class I met my now husband, actor Liam Mitchell, and to study with the wonderful and unique Austin Pendleton. With the skills honed by working with teachers of this calibre, I began to audition for acting roles on stage, as well as in film and television, and earned my AEA and SAG/AFTRA cards. In the last year I have appeared in two feature films: “”This Is Where I Leave You””, with Jane Fonda and Tina Fey, and “”They Came Together””, with Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler, as well as in cabaret around the country.
I would be remiss in not mentioning the deep and lasting friendships, as well as professional contacts that I have made at HB. I am, and will be forever grateful for the impact that HB has had on my life.

1988, two days

I had the honor to stay personally with Herbert Berghof in the studio while he was teaching. My first day I went to watch one open lesson then I wanted to come back and stay for one full day so my second time he asked me when he saw me who i was and where i was coming from ,I had an accent ,so I explained him i was italian and i loved theatre so he asked me to perform on stage to show him what i was able to do so I played a monologue in italian from Luigi Pirandello it was the role of the daughter from six characters looking for an author.I finished and he said to me very well this is Pirandello! where are you studying? I told him and also I told him I was going back to italy so he answered me: well then I’m going to help you I will write a letter to the great director Giorgio Streheler in Italy to recommend you. So he wrote this letter to the great italian director. I still have a copy of that.In the future I met him in Milan- and then he started teaching again his lesson and I left him a wonderful bottle of white wine S. Margherita because I loved his talent and I was honored about what he said about me and the way he welcomed me even if I was in another studio I will never forget! thank you