Beverly Hills Playhouse

THE BEVERLY HILLS PLAYHOUSE is one of Los Angeles’ oldest and most respected Acting Schools. Founded by renowned director and teacher Milton Katselas, the BHP has for over thirty years offered ongoing intensive scene-study classes for both the professional actor and those who are looking to develop themselves into professional actors. The BHP trains actors in a down-to-earth fashion, with easily-applied techniques to create full, believable performances that enlighten and entertain. In addition to its approach to Acting, the BHP instructs its students in the areas of Career Administration and the proper Attitude that will help you survive and handle any negativity that comes up in the pursuit of a life in the arts. With first-rate facilities, a veteran teaching staff, and a vibrant community of actors and artists aspiring to the highest standards of both craft and career, the BHP offers everything the Los Angeles actor needs to develop his or her talent to the fullest, and put their dreams into action.
ACTING: The BHP strives to train each actor in real-person-real-place, behavior-oriented, moment-to-moment acting work in the tradition of the great American actors. Without advocating any specific "school" of acting technique, the BHP utilizes the down-to-earth approach developed over 40 years by its founder, Milton Katselas. Different actors have different ways of tackling the craft of acting, and the BHP recognizes this important fact by teaching over 20 different concepts, ideas, and techniques that actors of all shapes, sizes and experience levels can learn and utilize to master whatever challenge faces them, whether from the nature of the role or the nature of the project. Our product is an actor who can deliver a rich, believable performance no matter the circumstance, from film shoots and television where there is little or no rehearsal, to theatre projects where there are weeks of rehearsal, to the very audition that gets you any of these jobs.
ATTITUDE What is your viewpoint of this business? What is the viewpoint of those around you about you in this business? Many actors deal in daily fashion with rampant negativity about their profession, from within the business, as well as from their friends, associates, and family. If your agent has ever said, "We can't get you in," if you have ever said to yourself, "My agent isn’t cutting it" or "I'll never be able to get an agent," if your family has ever asked, "How long are you giving this acting thing?", or if you have said or heard any of the million-and-one variations on blame, doubt, suppression, or actor-as-victim, then what the BHP has to offer you in handling Attitude is for you.
ADMINISTRATION What are you doing to get professional work? In what work are you interested - TV, Film, Theatre, and what kind? What parts are you right for, really? What is your relationship with the industry professionals who can help you? What are you doing to create your own projects? The BHP is very interested in these questions, and your answer to them. Each actor has a specific dream that led them into this profession, and the BHP urges each student to identify this dream specifically, so their career administration has a focus, an energy, and a purpose. If sending out endless headshots, postcards, or other promotion has seemed a fruitless exercise, if you have never really thought specifically about how to get this acting career moving, or if you are a working actor who is looking to change the nature of the parts you are booking, then the BHP's approach to Administration will help.
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Through a disciplined focus on the areas of Acting, Administration and Attitude, the BHP instructs its students in not only a thorough understanding of craft, but as well the tools to get that skill out there in the marketplace, with an attitude that will keep you going for as long as it takes to accomplish your dreams, handling any negativity along the way without becoming yet one more weeping victim of "The Industry." The BHP is out to train "Artistic Killers," defined by Milton as "someone who uses constructive actions to complete, or kill the deal that they are after - kill meaning to complete to the fullest, most productive degree."