The Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Theatre/Acting Concentration:
BOLD, DYNAMIC, IMPULSIVE, AUTHENTIC, TRANSFORMATIVE. A few words that describe the “actors-as-artists” that graduate from our program.
We specialize in the integration of multi-techniques, celebrating the uniqueness of YOU and cultivating your ability to access all aspects of humanity in service of the craft of transformative acting for theatre, film, and television, and the ever-expanding offerings of multi-media performance platforms.
The BFA Acting program guides students through a curated curriculum of multiple acting techniques, dynamic approaches to movement and embodied vocal training folded into the four-year training experience.
- Stanislavski
- Practical Aesthetics
- Shakespeare
- Acting for Camera/ Film
- TV & New Media
- MvM Miller Voice & Dialects
- Yoga/ Pilates
- Grotowski
- Viewpoints & Suzuki Training
- Clown
Montclair State University is just 14 miles from New York City. Our proximity to Manhattan allows us to regularly engage with industry professionals through our faculty, guest directors, playwrights and choreographers and visiting casting directors and agents.
Emphasizing comprehensive acting training, the program specializes in three essential areas: Acting, Movement, Voice and Speech. Dedicated to a holistic approach to the craft of acting, the program will give you experience all in areas of the theatre as part of your training including Text Analysis, Theatre History I and II, Directing, Introduction to Technical Theatre and Practicums in Stage Craft, Costumes and Production Operations.
An ever-expanding menu of electives are available including: Acting for the Camera I & II, Singing for the Actor, Playwriting I & II, Directing I & II, The Business of the Business, Audition Prep, Stage Combat, Stage Dialects, Devised Theatre Projects etc…
Acting
Year One: Students learn how to work intimately and collaboratively with an ensemble, actor-to-actor and moment-to-moment with bravery, vulnerability and an honest use of self through technique that progresses into contemporary scene work with an emphasis on diverse playwrights.
Year Two: Fall semester is devoted to Stanislavski technique through intense scene study with characters from diverse contemporary playwrights. Spring semester focuses on Practical Aesthetics and advanced scene work with complex characters from diverse contemporary Greek and contemporary-modern playwrights.
Year three: Centers on the specific challenges and demands of plays by William Shakespeare, including heightened language and given circumstances.
Year Four: The senior year of training in our program transitions students from an academic setting to the profession and culminates in a Senior Capstone Project fall semester and a Senior Showcase in New York City in the spring semester.
Movement
The Movement for Actor sequence is offered for six consecutive semesters and includes ensemble based Viewpoints Training, Yoga and Pilates to diagnose and release habitual tensions in the body through rigorous classes for flexibility, core strength, and presence, Andrei Droznin Movement for advanced work on flexibility, strength with partner stretches, weight sharing and acrobatics, a year of Mask and Clown work, and an entire year devoted to Suzuki Training. Our movement training is sophisticated, rigorous and transformational and one of the many strengths of the program.
Voice and Speech
The Voice and Speech for the Actor sequence is a six-semester sequence that focuses on release and freedom: discovering and engaging in authentic, organic presence, finding active breath and working with an open channel for vocal expression with MVM: Miller Voice Method. Students also learn IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) as a basis for acquiring the necessary skills for Standard American speech and dialects.
Academic Theatre Courses and Hands-on Experience
The BFA Acting Program is as academically rigorous as it is artistic with a strong intellectual component. All members of the acting program take coursework in script analysis, theatre history and directing. Students are required to learn about all aspects of the theatre and engage in a four-course progression of technical classes (practicums) which provides them with hands-on experience working behind the scenes on three department productions in stagecraft, costumes and operations. Students have numerous opportunities to participate in film work through collaboration with the School of Communication and Media’s filmmaking majors. Our FAST (Friday Afternoon Student Theatre) also offers students a rehearsal and performance venue for student-generated work.
Career Building
Your four-year experience will prepare to launch your acting career after graduation with courses that focus on “the business of the business,” hands-on workshops with casting directors and agents, and a New York Senior Showcase on Theatre Row.
For complete BFA Acting course requirements and descriptions, go to:
As a BFA Acting student, you will have access to a wide range of performance opportunities. We produce as many as 10 plays each year. Visit our Productions and Photo Gallery links to see examples of current and past student work.
- Production Season: Department of Theatre and Dance’s produces full seasons of contemporary and classical plays and musicals in our multi-dimensional performances spaces in the Alexander Kasser Theater, 900 seat Memorial Auditorium, 125 seat Dance Theatre, the 100 seat flexible black box, the Howard Fox Theatre, and an outdoor amphitheatre.
- The Studio Series: Features workshops of plays and staged readings directed by faculty and guest directors as an extension of the production season. The Lab Series functions as an extension of the technique classes providing additional opportunities for our students to work on process and performance with a rotating repertory of styles and genres.
- New Works Initiative (NWI):commissions high profile guest artists to create new work with our students that feature a developmental rehearsal period, a presentation in New York City and a fully produced work as a part of our department season
Learn about the partnership between the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State and Ghetto Film School, including the dynamic summer residency for GFS students from NY and LA! Working with our talented student actors, GFS fellows further their development as filmmakers and storytellers through this intensive director’s workshop.
Expand your creative horizons as an artist and study abroad to experience diverse, international theatre.
Spring Break Trip to London: Experience world-class professional theatre in one of the world’s most esteemed theatre meccas. (Trips to London occur every other academic year).
Santiago, Chile Spring Break 2018: Acting Exchange with students and faculty from the BFA Acting Program and the Universidad de Mayor in Santiago, Chile. Featuring a bilingual acting experience, master classes, and cultural adventures which explore the history and cultural diversity of this dynamic South American city. Read more about Spring Break 2018 in Santiago Chile.
Shanghai, China: June 2015: BFA Acting student Rebecca DeMarco was cast in the student film collaboration between Montclair State’s BFA Filmmaking Program and the Shanghai Theatre Academy in China. Rebecca starred in the film Runaway that was shot in Shanghai, China in June 2015.
The careers of BFA Acting alumni take flight after graduation:
Giuliana Carr graduated with a BFA in Acting from MSU in 2018. Shortly after graduating, she played a young Hannah Arendt in the world premiere of Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library by Jenny Lyn Bader (dir. Ari Laura Kreith). She can be seen in the new short Pizza Party (directed by Tessa Slovis, currently making rounds at festivals across the country) and the upcoming feature One Week in Heaven directed by Joseph Craig.
Carlos Gonzalez was born and raised in Cuba. Carlos graduated from Montclair State University Class ’11 with a BFA in Acting and Minor in Dance. Touring credits include: In The Heights (national tour), Zorro The Musical (Asia tour) and the off-Broadway sensation FUERZA BRUTA and various regional productions. Also performed for Telemundo, Norwegian Cruise Lines, PBS and more. Carlos returned to Cuba as part of the creative team in the first two professional musicals produced there in 50 years, Carmen Jones El Amor Cubano and RENT.
Dustin Fontaine is a Montclair alumnus (class of 2011) and recipient of the Marc Mattaliano Theatre Award for excellence in performance. He has since performed in plays, workshops and readings everywhere from The Actors Studio and Premiere Stages to Harlem rooftops and Brooklyn garages where he has collaborated with directors like McG, Wes Grantom and Rachel Chavkin.
Alex Hernandez is a 2013 graduate of the BFA Acting program at Montclair State, where he was seen in Romeo and Juliet, Attempts on Her Life, The Grapes of Wrath, The Seagull, and was the 2013 recipient of the Marc Mattaliano theatre award for excellence in performance. Since then he has been seen in numerous productions in the NJ/NYC area such as That Day in Tucson at Urban Stages, Comida de Puta (f*ckin lousy food) at the West End Theatre, Profiles at Passage Theatre Company, and The Virilogy at Strangedog Theater company to name a few.
Bret Lada is a 2011 graduate of Montclair State University and the National Theater Institute. During his time at Montclair, he was the recipient of the Garden State Arts Foundation Scholarship and the Dennis K. McDonald Senior Theater Award. Since graduation, he has held a recurring role in Amazon Studios Alpha House opposite John Goodman. Other television credits include guest stars on Hostages (CBS), The Good Wife (CBS), I Love You…But I Lied (LIFETIME), Person of Interest (CBS), The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Deadly Sins (ID).
Angelica Santiago a multicultural Puerto Rican woman from New Jersey, telling the stories that need to be told. Her previous credits include: Actors Theatre of Louisville: The Wolves (#7), Hype Man (Peep One), Dracula (Vampire Bride), The Electric Harvest (Emma), A Christmas Carol (Belle u/s) and We’ve Come To Believe in the 43rd Humana Festival.
Aryana Sedarati is an actor/designer, specializing in theatre arts, commercial and fine arts photography, makeup design, and graphic artistry. In 2014, she received her BFA in Acting from Montclair State University. Combining her passion for human expression and connectivity with a keen sense of aesthetics, Aryana’s designs have been recognized nationally at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. As an actor, she was accepted as one of seven apprentices at the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival and was seen under the tent in their apprentice production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream as Hermia, Egeus & Starveling.
Cameron Style is a magician, actor and magic consultant who was born in Philadelphia and raised in Marlton, New Jersey. He discovered the world of magic at the age of 4 and has never looked back. Since then he has garnered a diverse skill set and is now heralded as one of the most innovative young minds in magic today. With a formal background in theatre, Cameron earned his BFA in acting from Montclair State University. Cameron recently ended a short run of his intimate close-up show Secrets at the Fabrika Philly dinner theatre. Secrets was a show that used magic as a vehicle to share personal stories about his life. When he is not performing you may find him consulting on magic shows, like he did last year on the hit Off-Broadway show Six Impossible Things.
Angelica Ubiera was recently in the Xfinity Watchathon Week 2021 commercial in both English and Spanish. She was also a co-star in the CBS show FBI. Angelica graduated from Montclair State University as a BFA Acting Major in 2018. Some of her recent works include Josie in the time travel fiction podcast TimeStorm.
Brissae Valdes is a Afro-Latinx actor from Union City, NJ based in NYC. Professional theatre credits include her performances in Nick Jr. Live! Move To The Music (National Tour) Directed by Mary Kate Burke and Daughters of The Rebellion (World Premiere/ Theatre Lab NYC) Directed by Melissa Crespo. Montclair State University theatre credits include, In The Red and Brown Water, Matsukaze and Aida. In addition to theatre, Brissae’s voice over work includes her performances in Cocotazo Media’s podcast Time Storm. Brissae received her BFA in acting at Montclair State University in 2019. Brissae dedicates bringing truth to storytelling whether that be through Theatre, TV, Film, Commercial or Voice Over. Brissae hopes to open many doors of opportunity for people of color in the industry. Brissaevaldes.com
Lorenzo Villanueva has recently been cast in the production of The Glory of the World (ensemble) by Chuck Mee at the Brooklyn Academy of Music directed by Les Waters. He was part of the 2014-2015 apprentice company at Actors Theatre of Louisville. His past credits at Actors Theatre of Louisville include the apprentice show That High Lonesome Sound written by Charise Castro-Smith, Diana Grisanti, Jeff Augustin and Corey Hinkle, directed by Pirronne Yousefzahdeh.
Alumni Accomplishments
We are extremely proud of the accomplishments of our recent graduates in the BFA Acting program who exemplify excellence in the professional world of acting. Our BFA Acting graduates regularly perform on Broadway, Off Broadway in Regional Theatre and Film and Television. Here is a small list of some of our alumni’s professional credits:
International Tours:
Zorro The Musical (Asia tour)
Norwegian Cruise Lines (Carlos Gonzalez)
Blue Man Group (Dustin Fontaine)
National Tours:
Nickelodeon Jr. Live (Brissae Valdes)
Theatre Works (Jeremey Landes)
In The Heights (Carlos Gonzalez).
Broadway:
72 Miles To Go (Matthew Martinez)
The People in the Picture (Stuart Zagnit)
On Your Feet (Carlos Gonzalez)
Newsies (Kevin Carolan)
Off Broadway:
Face to Face Films, Shadows (Templar Wright)
The Public Theatre, Julius Ceasar (Esteban Carmona)
Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) The Glory of the World (Lorenzo Villanueva)
A Clockwork Orange (Misha Osherovich)
Fuerza Bruta (Carlos Gonzalez)
Blue Man Group (Andrew Russel)
Six Impossible Thjngs (Cameron Style)
Regional Theatre:
Chautauqua Theatre Company (Ciara Allen)
Actors Theatre of Louisville (Alejandro Hernandez, Lorenzo Villanueva, Angelica Santiago)
Williamstown Theatre Festival (Uri Zerbib)
Hartford Stage, A Dolls House 2 (Kira Player)
Yale Repertory Theatre (Paul Reisman)
Hangar Theatre (Angelica Santiago)
INTAR Theatre (Jesse Castellanos)
Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey (Jon Barker, Paul Reisman)
directing interns (Noah Befeler, Dennis Olivera)
The Shakespeare Theatre of D.C. (Joseph Respicio)
Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival (Aryana Sedarati) ,
Kentucky Shakespeare Festival (Angelica Santiago)
Alabama Shakespeare Festival (Kira Player)
Commonwealth Shakespeare Festival (Anna Klein, Joshua Crockett, Kira Player)
Two River Theatre Company (Lorenzo Villanueva)
Mc Carter Theatre (Michele Tauber)
Bay Street Theatre (Ethan Metz)
Skylight Theatre (Andrew Russel)
The Magic Theatre, Oedipus El Rey (Esteban Carmona)
Luna Stage (Giuliana Carr, Jesse Castellanos, Vanessa Cardenas)
Cape May Theatre (Misha Misherovich)
Priscilla Beach Theatre (Isabel Lagana)
Film/Television:
The Andy Baker Tape (2021) (Bret Lada)
Freaky (2020) and The Gold Finch (2019) (Misha Osherovich)
Amazon Prime, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Mozart in the Jungle (Rebecca De Marco)
Law and Order SVU, HBO’s Vinyl (Alejandro Hernandez)
Prodigal Son (HBO) and The Deuce And Ensemble (HBO) (Esteban Carmona)
NOS4A2 (AMC), Succession (HBO) (Misha Osherovich)
The Good Wife (CBS), I Love You…But I Lied (LIFETIME), Person of Interest (CBS), The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Deadly Sins (ID), Orange Is The New Black (Bret Lada)
Boardwalk Empire (HBO) (Mark Donovan, Michele Tauber)
Blue Bloods (CBS) (Stuart Zagnit)
The Girl In The Woods (Crypt TV/ Peacock) (Misha Osherovich)
Graduate Acting Programs & Acting Apprenticeships:
Many of our alumni choose to continue their acting training at the graduate level in some of the top conservatories, MFA programs and Acting Apprenticeships in the country: Yale School of Drama, Julliard, Rutgers University, Pace University, Northern Illinois University, Savannah College of Art and Design) or to pursue highly competitive and prestigious acting apprenticeships (Actors Theatre of Louisville, Chautauqua Theatre Company, Commonwealth Shakespeare, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Bay Street Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey).
More than 75 permanent faculty members and visiting professionals – including internationally renowned celebrity guest artists and artists-in-residence – mentor our Theatre and Dance students each semester. These working professionals share insights gleaned from their professional experiences in the “real world” of theatre. Faculty mentoring can often lead to opportunities beyond the classroom.
Meet the BFA Acting Adjunct Faculty:
Jordan Baker-Kilner
Education: AA American Academy of Dramatic Arts, NY; BA Smith College; MFA Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts
Credits: IMDB, “C”, Edward Albee’s 1994 Pulitzer Prize play Three Tall Women, The New Adventures of Old Christine (over 100 television shows), Another Earth (Winner, Sundance Alfred P. Sloan Award).
Doug Chapman
Education: Interlochen Arts Academy, BA, Magna Cum Laude; Oberlin College MFA; ART/MXAT Institute at Harvard University; Certified Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework
Credits: Solutions Grassroots Tour, International WOW Company, Directed by Josh Fox Spiral Ramp Library/Time Temple, Guggenheim Museum, Directed by Wang Jianwei Romance, American Repertory Theatre, Directed by Scott Zigler
Erin Gorski
Education: The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Academy for Classical Acting at The George Washington University
Credits: The Shakespeare Theatre Company/ACA Hamlet (Hamlet), Emmy Award Winning HBO Film The Art of Failure: Chuck Connelly Not For Sale(Allison “lead”), Artist-in-Residence at The Berkshire Theatre Festival (two years)
Carole Healey
Education and Training: MFA University of Delaware PTTP, Florida State London/Tallahassee
Credits: Oregon Shakespeare Company Member, Mint Theatre, Utah and Alabama Shakespeare Company Member
Tia James is an actor, teacher and director and has been seen in Loving and Loving, with Stella Adler Studios, The Golden Drum Year (Radical Evolution), The Merchant of Venice (Broadhurst Theater), Much Ado About Nothing (Two River Theater), The Merchant of Venice and The Winter’s Tale (The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park), Civilization (All You Can Eat) (Woolly Mammoth Theater), #NYC (Ugly Rhino). Television: “Nurse Jackie” “Treme”. Tia has directed The Mystery Plays, Hamlet, Othello, and Sewing Circle at NYU Grad Acting, Richard III and Two Gents with the Shakespeare Academy @ Stratford. Tia teaches for NYU, PPAS, The Public Theater’s Public Works program, and DreamYard. She received her BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University. MFA: NYU Graduate Acting
Ellen Lancaster
Education and Training: Northwestern University, American Repertory Theatre at Harvard University
Credits: Broadway: La Bete and The Visit
Television: Host of We Television series Cinematherapy, Law and Order
Film: Films with Johnny Depp, Charlize Theron, Meryl Streep, Alfred Molina, and Nicolas Cage.
Voice Over: Voiced spots for commercials from Charmin to Pepperidge Farm, Coffee to Tylenol and many more.
Jim Ligon
Education: BFA from University of Alabama, MFA from University of Virginia
Credits: Greater Tuna, Playwrights Theatre of NJ/Shadowland Theatre, Ellenville NY: “Rising Water” by John Biguenet, Dorset Theatre Festival in Dorset, Vermont, as Estragon in Waiting for Godot
Television: Law and Order, The Mysteries of Laura, Guiding Light
Becca L. McLarty received her MFA in Acting from Brooklyn College in 2009. She has worked as an adjunct instructor of voice and speech and improvisation at various institutions in NYC including Pace University, The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Marymount Manhattan College, and Brooklyn College. Becca’s approach to the voice and speech work draws on her experience and training in the methodologies of Scott Miller (Miller Voice Method), Kristin Linklater, Patsy Rodenburg and Edith Skinner. As a professional equity actor/improviser, Becca has worked in NYC and regionally, including credits at: Arden Theatre, Luna Stage, Mt. Gretna Theatre, Bakerloo Theatre, and Stable Cable Lab, Co. She has also helped to develop new works with Brooklyn Generator, Writers Theatre of NJ, as well as a solo show with TH/TW Project in the summer of 2017.
Nurit Monacelli has appeared in award winning independent films that have circulated nationally in over 20 festivals. Film and TV credits also include Darren Aronofsky’s Noah, Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer, Blacklist, Dietland, Person of Interest and Law and Order, Criminal Intent. In NY she has appeared at the Drama League, New Georges, New Dramatists, The Culture Project, HERE and the Flea. She has performed regionally and internationally at such places as ART, the Shakespeare Theatre of NJ and the Andrews Lane in Dublin. She is thrilled to be a company member of Inviolet Theater and an affiliated artist with Blessed Unrest. She is a certified yoga instructor, has a BA from Brown University and an MFA from ART/Moscow Art Theatre. Nurit has taught Viewpoints and Movement for the Actor at the Berkshire Theatre Festival and AcTeen. She also teaches Acting 1 and 2, Auditioning for Film and Theater and Movement for the Actor at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Tommy Schrider
Education: NYU Graduate Acting Program, MFA
Credits: War Horse (Broadway – Vivian Beaumont Theatre) Hamlet at the Yale Repertory Theatre (Laertes to Paul Giamatti’s Hamlet Recurring role on The Americans (on F/X)
To apply to the BFA Acting program, please visit Department Admissions.
You will also need to prepare for an audition.
For additional information about our programs, please visit us to tour our facilities and/or plan to attend one of our Arts Days and Open Houses.
Click on an image below to enlarge photo.
- Location:
- Life Hall
- Phone:
- 973-655-3085
- Email:
- bentonh@montclair.edu