Acting classes Edgemar Center for the Arts (Santa Monica, CA)

Acting classes Edgemar Center for the Arts

About the Edgemar Center for the Arts Edgemar Center for the Arts (ECA) is a 501(c)(3) arts organization with a three-pronged mission to provide an environment that nurtures the creative process and encourages collaboration between writers directors actors musicians dancers and visual artists to create a learning environment for children and adults and to invite the community to observe engage and interact to add its voice to our creative discovery. With two theaters an art gallery rehearsal classroom and office space the ECA anchors the Frank Gehry designed Edgemar complex on Main Street in Santa Monica California. The interior courtyard is a hub of activity and a place of convergence for artists businesses residents and visitors to this popular beachside destination. The center houses the popular Michelle Danner Acting School and regularly hosts popular diverse and award-winning theatre music dance film and visual art performances. Some standout productions performed at ECA include The Night of the Black Cat winner of the 2005 Best Musical of the Year at the LA Music Awards Jane Fonda in the Court of Public Opinion starring Anne Archer and the currently running The Rainmaker an LA Times Critics Choice. Additionally ECA serves all facets of the Westside community and beyond by offering public arts programs. These programs include ticketed performances and educational outreach courses for children and senior citizens. Michelle Danner Founder & Artistic Director Michelle Danner is the founder and artistic director of The Edgemar Center for the Arts and The Edgemar Theatre Group. She is a renowned actor director and award-winning acting coach. Michelle directed and produced the film Hello Herman starring Norman Reedus (AMC s The Walking Dead ) through her production company All In Films. As an acting coach Michelle has worked with A List talent privately and on set including Gerard Butler Chris Rock Seth MacFarlane Jamie Lynn Sigler Penelope Cruz Michael Pena Isla Fisher Common Salma Hayek James Franco and Zooey Deschanel. She has directed and acted in over thirty award-winning plays and musicals in New York and Los Angeles. Her directorial debut in film was 2006 s How to Go Out on a Date in Queens with Jason Alexander Esai Morales and Ron Perlman. It was released nationwide and aired as an ABC Sunday Night Movie of the Week. Alexandra Guarnieri Co-Festival Director Alexandra Guarnieri is the co-founder and managing director of Edgemar Center for the Arts. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Columbia University with a degree in Political Science. She spent several years working in television at CNN and MSNBC. Alexandra has been producing plays and films since 2005. She served as the co-producer of Michelle Danner s How to Go Out On a Date In Queens and Hello Herman . On the theater side she has had a long collaboration with director Henry Jaglom producing his critically acclaimed play Always But Not Forever and his hit Just 45 Minutes from Broadway that ran successfully for over a year. An active member of the community Alexandra also curates the Edgemar Center Art Gallery and runs the Michelle Danner Acting School one of the top programs in the country.