George Morrison

Mike Nichols

Paul Sills

GEORGE MORRISON It is obvious that the most important factor in choosing a conservatory is the quality of the teaching. NAW students are taught by master teacher, George Morrison for eight hours a week in both the first and second year.

Stanley Tucci says, “George Morrison’s teachings, like any great teachings, are at once simple and profound. They not only give actors the tools necessary to become accomplished craftsmen, but also the knowledge of how to grow as artists. They have been and still are invaluable to me.”

Gene Hackman says, “I use what he taught me every day. I’ll be forever grateful to him.” (Click here to see a video of Gene Hackman)

Edie Falco says, “George's teaching has always been far ahead of its time – so deep and so intense, but also very simple – the way children play.  I feel its reverberations every day in my own work.”

Mr. Morrison has worked as a director on- and off-Broadway, in regional theatre, and television. He trained at the Yale School of Drama and with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio and has maintained private acting classes in New York for over 35 years. He has taught at the Juilliard Drama Center and is Professor of Theatre Arts Emeritus at the State University of New York at Purchase where he was a founding member of the Actor Training Program and the prize-winning senior instructor of acting for eighteen years. (Click here to read an interview with Mr. Morrison).

He has taught or directed Jane Alexander, Judy Collins, Sandy Dennis, Susan Dey, Edie Falco, George Furth, Scott Glenn, Joel Grey, Barbara Harris, Cynthia Harris, Dustin Hoffman, Jack Klugman, Ron Liebman, Ving Rhames, Stanley Tucci, and Gene Hackman, among others.

Mr. Morrison chairs the faculty and teaches eight class hours of acting technique and scene study in both the first and second year. His approach integrates elements of the Strasberg and Meisner approaches with the newest and most effective developments in actor training, many of them developed by him. (Click here to watch Academy Award winning actor Gene Hackman discuss studying with George Morrison).

MIKE NICHOLS was one half of the team of Nichols and May before he turned his hand to directing. He has been awarded nine Tonys for stage direction, two Emmys and an Oscar for film direction. His films include The Graduate, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Carnal Knowledge, Catch 22, Silkwood, Working Girl, Postcards from the Edge, The Birdcage, Primary Colors, Closer, and for HBO, Angels in America, Wit. Most recently, Mr. Nichols directed the Tony winning production of Spamalot on Broadway, and the film Charlie Wilson's War.

Mr. Nichols teaches a weekly master class for second year students and graduates (first year students audit) as his schedule permits. While we cannot predict his availability in any given year, he has met an average of two-thirds of his classes in the 19 years the school has been in existence.

For more on Mr. Nichols visit Helping Actors Make Each Time the First Time.

PAUL SILLS
The late Paul Sills (1927-2008) was the son of Viola Spolin. He was the original director of The Second City (1959-65) and creator of Story Theatre, both of which played on- and off-Broadway and in Los Angeles.  He was the co-founder of Compass, Game Theatre, and Sills and Co. He was the foremost exponent of his mother's work and taught privately for many years as well as, for sixteen years, at The New Actors Workshop where he directed a new Story Theatre production every year.  Highly experienced students of his continue to teach his methods at NAW. The one-week summer workshops in Wisconsin which he originated continue. See One-Week Summer Improvisational Intensives.

For more on Mr. Sills visit the Press Clippings pages.