Alumni Profiles

Profiles | Message Board

Allison Bernard

Allison is a recent graduate of Middlebury College (class of 2010), where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a joint major in Chinese and History. At present, she is in Taipei, Taiwan studying at ICLP, a language-training affiliate of National Taiwan University, and will soon be returning to the U.S. to continue into her second year of graduate work in premodern Chinese literature at Columbia University. During her time at Middlebury College, Allison was an active member of MCMP (the Middlebury College Musical Players), her college's student-run musical theater group. Some highlights from her time with the group include: her appearance in the group's fall 2007 production of Merrily We Roll Along as Mary Flynn; her role as the Musical Director for the group's fall 2008 production of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown; and her role as Stage Manager for the group's production of West Side Story in the spring of 2010. Allison maintains a deep interest in theater and music, and intends to engage and apply these interests in future research projects on late imperial China.

Allison was a consistent participant in Renee's acting classes throughout her high school years. Renee's classes helped to provide her with a greater level of confidence in her performing abilities, and they also introduced her to a large collection of theatrical material that both included and transcended the repertoire of mainstream popular theater, thus providing her with insight into a true variety of theatrical works and styles. Further, Renee challenged Allison to act in roles unlike those she most often received in high school productions -- roles that, at the time, still existed outside of her performing comfort zone. Most significantly, Renee's classes provided a safe, supportive, and enjoyable atmosphere within which to learn about the profound medium of live theater -- how to develop and deepen a character through improvisation, how to find small, meaningful "moments" in a scene or monologue, and how to find meaning in and improve oneself through theatrical experimentation. Renee's classes offered a wonderful learning opportunity, and come highly recommend to anyone interested in theater, regardless of one's existing skills or previous acting experience.

Michael Borden

Michael is a graduate from Connecticut College and currently resides in Culver City, California. Majoring in Film Studies, Mike learned a great deal about the Film and Video industries and has now pursued a career in that same field. He is best described as a “behind-the-camera” kind of guy. You can find him on the sets of films and TV shows frantically working with the lights, electric, and cameras. Without Mike, none of the acting that takes place in front of the cameras would even be possible.

Currently Michael is a junior manager at Gilbertson Entertainment. Gilbertson entertainment manages Lauren Holly, Lea Thompson, Tricia Helfer and more. He also has been writing and developing a couple strong TV shows and films.

Michael was the Head Gaffer in the AFI grant film ‘Death to Toys’ and the Grip in ‘Little Black Dress.’ He has also been the Second Camera Assistant in films such as ‘Badlands’ and ‘Death of Socrates.’ More of his work includes being the Assistant Director in the documentary ‘Change is Gonna Come’ and Producer/Editor of Plum TV. On top of all of this, Michael currently operates and owns a full production HDV studio.

While attending Connecticut College, Michael wrote, directed, produced, and edited a 20-minute independent film using an HDV camera and Final Cut Pro software. He also had the opportunity to take part in script writing, script adaptation, script shooting, storyboarding, casting, blocking, lighting, and editing footage.

Michael says “The knowledge and precision I gained from Renee’s courses has taught me the many methods to achieve an effective performance, and has also crafted my taste and understanding of what is a strong choice on the stage and on camera.”

Alec DeCrosta

My name is Alec DeCrosta and I am currently going into my last year at Berklee College of Music, where I major in film scoring. Having had little acting experience prior to studying with Renee, she taught me the similarities between developing a musical composition and developing a character and the ways in which composing and acting are comparable; she showed me the importance of absorbing a character in every way possible to the point that you're not just playing that character, but more so that you become that person and make it believable to the audience. She also taught me the importance of associating particular attributes and mannerisms to certain characters to make them seem more real, whe
ther it's written in the script or not. This way, the character is no longer a character but instead, the character is given life.

Kevin Schlagle

Boston University - School of Theatre

Stage Management BFA Candidate class of 2012

Kevin will be graduating in Spring 2012 with a BFA in Stage Management from Boston University. He has recently served on stage management teams for Ruined (a co-production with La Jolla Playhouse, Berkeley Theatre and Huntington Theatre Company), Prometheus Bound (World Premier musical directed by Diane Paulus with the American Repertory Theatre), and Ten Cents a Dance (World premier musical directed and conceived by John Doyle). Kevin spent his 2011 summer as an Assistant Stage Manager at Williamstown Theatre Festival and continues to enjoy working on a mixture of plays, musicals, and opera.

Anni Weisband

Anni Weisband is an actress based in New York City. She recently graduated with a bachelor of fine arts in acting from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Anni has performed in numerous regional and off-Broadway theatres including Playwrights Horizons on Theatre Row, The Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, and the Pioneer Playhouse in Danville, Kentucky. She has worked with prominent directors such as John Gould Rubin and Robby Henson. Anni recently starred opposite Johnny Crawford in a four-week run of Morning’s at Seven.

Off the stage Anni writes and performs sketch comedy with her group Lady People, and costars in the web-series 5A.

Anni is the co-founder and co-artistic director of True False Theatre, an organization dedicated to probing modern value systems through entertaining productions of both new and classic socially relevant plays.

Anni is represented by John Shea at Frontier Bookings International and is managed by Annette Alvarez.

"Everything that I know about acting I learned from my mom, Renee. She is by far the most talented and passionate actor and teacher that I have ever met. My mom has been my acting coach since middle school. She taught me the value of working on developing ones craft rather than focusing on performance. Today she continues to coach me for auditions that I go to in NYC."

Tyler Catanella

I have studied with Renee for four years now, and I surely wouldn't be
where I am today without her coaching and belief in me. Her hard work
and dedication to my study in theatre helped me acheive acceptance into
the NYU Tisch's Stella Adler Conservatory and Emerson College, where I
am currently studying acting and education. She also supported me in my
journey to become a Governor's School of the Arts Scholar ('08) in Theatre. She has taught me how to fully develop a character, and how to make the craft of acting your own. She helped me diversify my skills and widen my range. It's easy to get lost in the sea of aspiring actors doing same things as you, but because of Renee's training I feel confident that I stand out from the rest. Thank you for everything you have given me, it has meant more than the world.

Wyatt Cain

Wyatt currently studies Cinema and Photography at Ithaca College. He is an active writer, director, and producer of independent film and television. After graduation, he plans on moving to Los Angeles and pursuing a career in Pictures, where he thinks he can maybe make a living. Recently, he concluded an internship with Focus Features, the specialty film studio behind a slew of highly acclaimed hits, including Lost in Translation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Brokeback Mountain. His forays into the world of big-boy filmmaking haven’t made him forget his time with Renee, who helped him develop his passion for the performing arts.

“Renee was always there to offer encouragement and support during my early explorations into the arts. She fostered my development as an actor, which eventually helped me discover my passion for filmmaking. Not only did she improve my acting abilities, she imparted a wealth of knowledge about performance and scene analysis upon which I now draw as a writer and director. I look back on her classes with great fondness, and I r

Jared Smith

Jared is a recent graduate from the University of Miami. Though he received his Bachelors in Business Administration in Marketing, his goal in breaking into the entertainment industry—particularly as a talent agent—keeps him moving and shaking.

He has performed in several theatrical productions from middle school through to his college career where Renee Weisband’s guidance has been most instrumental in shaping him as a well-rounded actor. With anything that he does on stage, she always reminds him to “make it LARGER than life.” She continues to be a personal mentor and the most genuine life’s cheerleader to him as he pursues a career in the talent agency industry.

He is more than pleased to know that his sister, Kennedy Hill (7 years old), is a current student in Renee’s acting class. He also continues to strive to make everything larger than life whether he’s on stage or off stage.

Whitney Wolf

Whitney Wolf is a singer/songwriter in the New York area. She was born and raised right outside Philadelphia. At the young age of five she began to sing, and once she realized she was not Whitney Houston, as the name can be quite confusing, she began seriously singing around the age of nine. After years of musical theater and learning the piano, Whitney found herself at Berklee College of Music in the fall of 2010.

Whitney studied acting with Renee while in high school and had the pleasure of being coached by Renee through multiple musical theater roles. Renee helped inspire Whitney to follow her dream in the creative arts.

After graduating last spring, Whitney made the move from Boston to New York where she is currently performing regularly with her band. She just released her debut EP "The Unraveling", now available on iTunes and CD Baby. Check her out at www.whitneywolfmusic.com for tour dates and updates!