In 1965, Ms. Jean Shelton, a New York acting teacher, director, and actress founded the Lab with her husband Robert Elross. Having worked with Group Theatre members Stella Adler, Harold Clurman, Wendell Phillips, and acting genius Michel Chekov. Ms. Shelton was the first of the Stanislavsky technique teachers in Northern California and has maintained that fine tradition of “New York Realistic” acting. Lab students quickly gained a reputation for truthfulness and emotional believability their work and almost overnight the Jean Shelton Actors Lab became the premier school for actors in Northern California. ... show more

In 1965, Ms. Jean Shelton, a New York acting teacher, director, and actress founded the Lab with her husband Robert Elross. Having worked with Group Theatre members Stella Adler, Harold Clurman, Wendell Phillips, and acting genius Michel Chekov. Ms. Shelton was the first of the Stanislavsky technique teachers in Northern California and has maintained that fine tradition of “New York Realistic” acting. Lab students quickly gained a reputation for truthfulness and emotional believability their work and almost overnight the Jean Shelton Actors Lab became the premier school for actors in Northern California.

Since its inception the Lab has become nationally recognized for its artistic excellence. Staff members have included Jack Garfein (former director of the Actors Studio in Los Angeles), the legendary Stella Adler (teacher of Brando, DeNiro, and others), Harold Clurman (commonly thought of as the finest mind in American Theatre), Wendell Phillips (Group Theatre member, Actors Studio teacher/member, Broadway actor/director), and Former New York actor and recently referred by the Chronicle as the Bay Area’s best actor Robert Elross. Students at the Lab have founded many of the Bay Area’s important theatres as well as theatres and film production companies in New York and Los Angeles. The Jean Shelton Actors Lab is recommended by Agents, Filmmakers and Casting Directors throughout the country. Lab students have won Academy Awards, Emmy Awards, Tony Awards, Obie Awards, and countless local awards. Ms. Shelton was recently featured on a episode of Inside the Actors Studio as inspirational to former student Danny Glover’s career. She is a recipient of the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Payne Knickerbocker Lifetime Achievement Award.

Today the Jean Shelton Actors Lab continues to maintain its tradition and provide the finest training in the country. Recently, Terry Zweigoff (Director of feature films Bad Santa, Ghost World, and Crumb) attended courses along with other major film directors. Ms. Shelton teaches the Master Class and the Scene Study programs. She has trained and assembled her staff to teach her Acting Technique and Multi-disciplinary programs. Students at the Lab gain much more than the all too common experience of acting in front of other students; they gain the craft of acting which lasts for life and applies to all mediums, they gain the love of acting as an art form and they gain the inspiration to dedicate themselves to working professionally as actor/artists.
---www.sheltontheater.com
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