Stella Adler Academy of Acting & Theatre - Los Angeles

The Stella Adler Academy of Acting and Theatre has anchored Hollywood Boulevard actor training since 1985, when Stella Adler founded the school with her protegees Joanne Linville and Irene Gilbert. It is a nonprofit, and its teaching philosophy is Adler's own: growth as an actor and growth as a human being are the same project, and imagination, not personal memory, is the actor's primary instrument.

The curriculum runs on eight-week terms, six per year, with sequential prerequisites from Technique I through Play Production III. Individual courses are published mostly at $800 to $900 per eight weeks and cover technique, voice, speech, movement, scene study, Shakespeare, improv, masks, Alexander Technique, on-camera craft, and industry prep. The Two-Year Full Program stacks these into roughly 1,956 hours across twelve terms, with published 2024 tuition of $36,200 total; students can enter at any term start. A teen summer workshop and online workshops extend the reach.

Admission is by application and a video interview rather than audition, with auditions reserved for advanced placement. Need-based scholarships funded by two foundations cover up to 50 percent of tuition for first-time, LA-area students with income under $35,000, one of the most concrete scholarship programs in this directory. The academy also runs its own Lab Theatre productions above Hollywood Boulevard, in a building that once housed the Embassy Club.

Techniques taught

• Adler: Stella Adler's imagination-first approach: given circumstances and script analysis over personal memory.
• Stanislavski: The root system of modern actor training: objectives, actions, and given circumstances.
• Chekhov: Michael Chekhov's psychophysical approach: imagination, gesture, and atmosphere.
• Improv and sketch: Improvisation and sketch training: agreement, spontaneity, and ensemble play.

Class types

• Scene study
• On-camera
• Audition technique
• Improv
• Commercial acting
• Film and TV acting
• Theater training
• Voice and speech
• Movement
• Shakespeare and classical

Enrollment and schedule

Online application via Acceptd ($45 fee) with resume, headshot, essay, recommendation letter; Google Meet interview; $100 registration fee on acceptance; audition only for advanced placement; international students must show $37,800 in funds. Schedule: 8-week terms, 6 per year. 2026 terms: Summer Jun 29-Aug 21, Late Summer Aug 31-Oct 23, Fall Oct 26-Dec 18. Workshops summer/fall 2026 incl. Teen (from Jul 13), 4-Week Summer (from Jul 27), online Imagination (Sep 5-Oct 10). Duration: Individual courses run 8 weeks (32-96 hours); full program 2 years; workshops 2-5 weeks.

Published pricing

Prices are the school's own published rates on the dates shown. We never estimate prices. Always confirm before enrolling.

Instructors

• Laura Leyva, Adler Technique, Script/Character Breakdown
• Tim McNeil, Technique, Scene Study, Character
• Victoria Kemsley, Technique I, Play Production
• Christopher Thornton, Technique, Scene Study, Audition Skills
• Peter Wittrock, Voice, Shakespeare
• Tim Kopacz, Speech I-III
• Caitlin Apparcel, Movement
• Celio Silveira, Alexander Technique
• Rick Peters, On-Camera Adler Technique, Play Production. working actor/writer
• Timothy Craig, On Camera Craft

Practical notes

Scholarships: Financial-need scholarships up to 50% of tuition (McHugh-O'Donovan Foundation; Barry E. Bialik/Campbell Foundation); eligibility: first-time students, LA-area residents, individual income under $35,000; essay + self-tape; deadline Jul 24 for Late Summer 2026 term; contact scholarship@stellaadler-la.com

Location

Questions actors ask

Sources and verification

• Stella Adler Academy homepage, accessed 2026-07-16
• Courses & Pricing, accessed 2026-07-16
• About the Academy, accessed 2026-07-16
• Admissions, accessed 2026-07-16
• Financial Need Scholarships, accessed 2026-07-16
• Workshops, accessed 2026-07-16
• Faculty, accessed 2026-07-16
• Two-Year Program, accessed 2026-07-16
• Wikipedia - Stella Adler Studio of Acting, accessed 2026-07-16
• Wikipedia - Irene Gilbert, accessed 2026-07-16

Researched 2026-07-16, last verified 2026-07-16. Facts above come only from these sources. Anything we could not confirm is simply not shown. Report incorrect information or claim this listing if you represent the school.

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