Current Students and Alumni Join Chautauqua Theater Conservatory

By
Felix Van Kann
July 15, 2020

The Chautauqua Theater Conservatory has announced its class of 2020 with five Columbia actors on the list. Current students Julian AbelskampMazvita ChanakiraMichael Karadsheh and Gülin Langbroek as well as alumna Anya Banerjee '20 all join the group of only 30 acting fellows of the prestigious 30-year-old program.

According to the Chautauqua Theater Conservatory’s website, “the Acting Conservatory is composed of the best young emerging artists from all over the country and is considered one of the premiere summer training ensembles in America. All conservatory members receive a full scholarship including housing and a stipend. Conservatory alumni currently work across the country from Broadway to regional theater houses and CTC frequently welcomes back Conservatory alumni as guest artists on our mainstage.”

Abelskamp’s credits include Faded: A CalypsoTaiga in the BerkshiresIn Search Of, A Legendary Romance (Williamstown Theatre Festival); Measure for Measure (Toms River Shakespeare). Educational: Three Sisters, Measure for Measure, The Clooney Loss, Forty Days and Forty Nights (Columbia University); The Love of the Nightingale, A Perfect Wedding (Atlantic Acting School). Training: MFA candidate, Columbia University ('21), Atlantic Acting School.

Chanakira’s credits include New York & International: Citizens Defeated (Epidaurus Ancient Stadium), Don’t You Worry Child-Devised (The Edge, South Africa), Marie Antoinette (Theatre Row), Blood Wedding (Seaport Museum), Gruesome Playground Injuries (Drama League), Much Ado About Nothing (The Hive NYC), Lysistrata (3-Legged Dog). Pace University: Polaroid Stories; The Merchant Of Venice; The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot. Film/TV: The Luckiest Guys on the Lower East Side (Amazon Prime Video), Gap Year (JAG Creative Media). 

Karadsheh’s New York credits are: The Most Oppressed of All (Target Margin Theater). Educational: Three Sisters, Where Do We Live (Columbia University); green: an elegy to summer, Spring Awakening, Urinetown, The Cherry Orchard, Tick, Tick, Boom (Macalester College Theatre). Film: Internet Panic (Columbia Film), A Confession to Our Local Whole Foods (Macalester Film).

Langbroek is credited for the Off-Broadway show Numbness Chapter 2 (One Eighth & New Ohio Theatre).

Banerjee’s credits are Off-Broadway: Kill Hamlet (Signature Theatre). Regional: Twelfth Night (The Classical Theatre of Harlem). NY/International: Apologies to the Bengali Lady (The Tank/Edinburgh Fringe), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (The Actor's Program, NZ). Educational: Where Do We Live?, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Richard III (Columbia University).

Chautauqua Theater Company is committed to developing the next generation of theater artists. The Acting Conservatory members play leading roles in mainstage productions and the New Play Workshop series, as well as our touring Shakespeare production. Rehearsal and performance work is supported by highly focused, individual tutorials in voice, text and the Alexander technique. Throughout the summer, guest artists and faculty members offer Master Classes in an array of specialties including Mask/Movement work, Shakespeare, and the profession of acting. Audition Workshops with leading casting directors from theater, television, and film foster professional growth and connections. Training is geared toward supporting production work and bridging the gap between training and the professional world.