Our faculty comprises accomplished professionals who bring a wealth of experience from diverse backgrounds in acting, directing, voice, movement, and more. Each faculty member is dedicated to fostering creativity, discipline, and critical thinking, ensuring our students receive a comprehensive and transformative education.
Stephanie Machado is an actor and educator based in NYC, and has been a member of the faculty at the Yale Summer Session Acting Program since 2016. She is currently an adjunct professor at NYU Atlantic Acting School. Stephanie has worked extensively in the commercial industry and with numerous regional and New York based theaters. She holds an MFA in Acting from David Geffen School of Drama at Yale and a BFA in Acting from SMU.
John is a graduate of Yale School of Drama’s class of 2020. Most recently, he did the workshop of The Pidgeon with LaMA, Manifest Destiny at Teatro LeTEA, and Inspector, a new adaptation of Gogol’s The Government Inspector adapted and directed by Yura Kordonsky at Yale Rep. Some of his favorite credits include: A Taste of Honey (The Pearl Theatre Company, directed by Austin Pendleton); Way to Heaven (Repertorio Español, NYTimes Critic’s Pick); Lord of the Flies (Barrington Stage Company); An Inspector Calls (Pioneer Theatre Company); This is Our Youth (Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre); The History Boys (Palm Beach Dramaworks); Shakespeare’s R&J (Cygnet Theatre) and The Way of the World (Franklin Stage). YSD credits include: In His Hands; or the gay christian play; The Last Days of Judas Iscariot; Pivot; Shoot Her, Shooter; Trouble in Mind; shakespeare’s as u like it; Alice; and Mr. Burns, a post-electric play. Other credits include Cock; NOVIOS PART 1, NPC, Truck 3 (Yale Cabaret), The Conduct of Life (Yale Summer Cabaret).
As a teacher, he has taught at the Yale Summer Conservatory for Actors and the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities. He has been mentored by Mimi Lieber, James Bundy, Ron Van Lieu, Tamilla Woodard, Laura Henry, Mary Lou Rosato, and Dan Murray.
He is the recipient of Yale School of Drama’s Oliver Thorndike Acting Award and was the Jerome L. Greene Fellow from 2019-2020. His formal training includes the British American Drama Academy Midsummer in Oxford, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities. He is a proud member of the Actor’s Center Company and Actor’s Equity. @johnevansreese
Will Cobbs is a television, film and theater actor based in NYC. Before moving to New York, Will lived and worked in Atlanta, GA, where he attended Morehouse College. During his Atlanta years, he worked with theater companies like The Alliance Theater, Theater in the Square, Aurora Theater, and Georgia Ensemble Theater. His time in Atlanta culminated in his first tv guest-star role on the Lifetime show Army Wives (3 episode arc). After working professionally for several years, Will applied to and was accepted to the Yale School of Drama under the helm of Ron Van Lieu. Yale was a transformative experience for Will, and he left ready to take on deeply complex, compelling dramatic characters.
Annelise Lawson is an actress, director, and teacher based in New York and L.A. She teaches contemporary applications of the Russian Étude method – an improvisatorial rehearsal tool designed to propel an actor’s imagination into the world of the text – and Clown. Her work focuses on developing students’ technique and style through their personal senses of play and unique identities.
Since graduating from the Yale School of Drama, Gabriel has taught Clown, physical acting and Shakespeare in traditional university settings such as NYU, Smith College, Amherst College and Yale University. He has also led workshops students at regional theatres such as The Alliance, Berkshire Theater Group and Northern Stage. Currently, Gabe is on the faculty of The Pandemonium Studio in Brooklyn, while maintaining an online coaching practice and in person teaching practice in Western Massachusetts.
Eli Pauley grew up in rural Illinois. She teaches a lot, directs often, and acts occasionally. She did her post-graduate teaching work on fellowship at The Juilliard School under the mentorship of Evan Yionoulis and Richard Feldman where she worked on productions such as Yionoulis’ King John, The Cherry Orchard, and The Caucasian Chalk Circle. Her last role onstage was playing the title role in Hamlet in Why Not Theatre’s American tour. Besides the Yale Summer Conservatory, Eli has taught at the Interlochen Arts Camp, the National High School Institute (Cherubs) at Northwestern and ArtsBridge. She is currently on the Acting faculty at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers. Training: MFA Acting; Yale School of Drama, BFA Acting; Rutgers/MGSA.