American Academy of Dramatic Arts

The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a private performing arts conservatory with two locations, one in Manhattan and one in Los Angeles. The Academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related arts in the areas of theater, film, and television. Students also have the opportunity to audition for the third-year theater company. Students can usually transfer completed credits to another college or university to finish a bachelor's degree if they choose.

Not to be confused with the former name of a performing arts institute in Sydney with the same acronym – the Australian Academy of Dramatic Art.
American Academy of Dramatic Arts
TypePrivate conservatory
Established1884
FounderFranklin Haven Sargent
EndowmentApprox $5 Million
PresidentSusan Zech (born 1971)[lower-roman 1]
Academic staff
New York total: 39[lower-alpha 1]
(31 of 39 part time)
Los Angeles total: 50[lower-alpha 1]
(41 of 50 part-time)
Administrative staff
New York: 39[lower-alpha 2]
Los Angeles: 39[lower-alpha 2]
StudentsNew York: 524[1]
Los Angeles: 303[1]
Other students
Summer Intensives
Location
New York City, New York and
Los Angeles, California
,
United States
CampusUrban
ColorsGold and Black
AffiliationsNAICU, MSA
Websitewww.aada.edu
Academy at the former Colony Club building in Manhattan

History

The oldest acting school in the English-speaking world,[2] the Academy in New York City was founded in 1884 by Franklin Haven Sargent, a graduate of Harvard University and professor of speech and elocution at his alma mater.[3] Sargent's vision was to establish a school to train actors for the stage. Its first home was the original Lyceum Theatre on what is now Park Avenue South. In 1963, the school moved to its current home, a landmark building designed by the American Renaissance architect Stanford White for the Colony Club.[lower-alpha 3]

In 1974, the Academy opened another campus in Pasadena, California, which made it the only professional actor-training school in both major centers of American entertainment. The Los Angeles campus moved from Pasadena to Hollywood in 2001 in a new building next to the site of the former studios of Charlie Chaplin.

Academics

The Academy remains dedicated to training professional actors. It offers a two-year program in which students have to be invited back for the second year. Auditions are held at the end of the second year for the third-year company.[lower-alpha 4] As well as training for the theatre, it now offers courses in film and television, providing a structured, professionally oriented program that stresses self-discovery, self-discipline and individuality. Students who graduate in New York receive an Associate of Occupational Studies degree; students who graduate in Hollywood receive a Certificate of Completion or an Associate of Arts degree in acting. Students from New York and Los Angeles can get a Bachelor of Arts degree from selected universities.

Numerous students of the Academy have gone on to careers in the entertainment industry. Alumni of The Academy have been nominated for 110 Oscars, 317 Emmy's and 94 Tony's.

Notable alumni

Among the notable people who attended the AADA are:[lower-alpha 5]

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

V

W

Z

Notable faculty

Notable faculty include:

Notes and references

Notes
  1. Sue Zech (né Susan Elizabeth Zech; born 1971) is the President of the AADA. She is a native of Westlake, Ohio, and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Management (1993) from the University of Dayton.

Secondary
  1. Peterson's [College Guide] (2019) (retrieved April 5, 2019)
  2. Nemy, Enid (June 11, 1985). "Oldest Acting School Fetes Its 100th Birthday". The New York Times. Retrieved September 1, 2012.
  3. https://www.aada.edu/about/history-and-heritage/
  4. Alleman, Richard (1988), The Movie Lover's Guide to New York, New York: Harper & Row, ISBN 0060960809 p.165
  5. Ward, Matthew (2015-01-26). "Former Miss Virginia from Suffolk Dies". Suffolk News-Herald. Retrieved 2015-02-14.
  6. "Christina Fontanelli sings 'Christmas in Italy' program." Union City Reporter, November 28, 2010, Page 20
  7. Collins, Bob (2017-02-01). "Gwen Gillen was much more than the Mary Tyler Moore statue". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved 2017-02-27.
  8. Themal, Harry F. (née Harry Fred Themal; born 1931). "Raters Prune 'Orange' – True to Hypocritical Oath." The News Journal (Wilmington, Delaware). (September 25, 1972): p. 32 (accessible via Newspapers.com at www.newspapers.com/image/163904125; subscription required).
  9. Harry Prescott Hanaford, Dixie Hines, eds., Who's who in Music and Drama (H. P. Hanaford 1914): 311.
  10. "Donnelly, Miss Dorothy Agnes," Who's Who on the Stage, Walter Lyman Browne (1856–1911) & Emanuel DeRoy Koch (1887–1975), B.W. Dodge & Co. (Benjamin Wales Dodge; 1862–1917) (1908), p. 134
  11. "Williams, Fritz (Frederick Williams)," Who's Who on the Stage, Walter Lyman Browne (1856–1911) & Frederick Arnold Austin (1874–1961), editors and publishers (1906), p. 228

Primary
  1. "Faculty Directory". American Academy of Dramatic Arts. 2019. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  2. "Executive Leadership & Staff Directory". American Academy of Dramatic Arts. 2019. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  3. "History and Heritage". aada.edu. American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  4. "The Academy's Approach" Archived 2011-10-26 at the Wayback Machine on the AADA website
  5. "Notable Alumni" AADA website
  6. Annual Catalogue, American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Empire Theatre (1904): 73, 75.
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