Circle in the Square Theatre School is a non-profit, tax exempt drama school

Drama school

A drama school or theatre school is an undergraduate and/or graduate school or department at a college or university; or a free-standing institution ; which specialises in the pre-professional training in drama and theatre arts, such as acting, design and technical theatre, arts administration, and...

 associated with the Circle in the Square Theatre

Circle in the Square Theatre

The Circle in the Square Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre in midtown Manhattan on 50th Street in the Paramount Plaza building.The original Circle in the Square was founded by Paul Libin, Theodore Mann and Jose Quintero in 1951 and was located at 5 Sheridan Square in Greenwich Village...

 and as such is the only accredited school attached to a Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

.

It offers two two-year programs: a Professional Acting Workshop, and a Professional Musical Theatre Workshop. The musical theatre program is unique in that is identical to the acting program, except for some additional musical classes.

Theodore Mann

Theodore Mann

Theodore Mann, birth name Goldman, is an American theatre producer and director and the Artistic Director of the Circle in the Square Theatre School....

 started the school in 1961 with 15 students the Greenwich Village

Greenwich Village

Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...

 venue on Bleecker Street

Bleecker Street

Bleecker Street is a street in New York City's Manhattan borough. It is perhaps most famous today as a Greenwich Village nightclub district. The street is a spine that connects a neighborhood today popular for music venues and comedy, but which was once a major center for American bohemia.Bleecker...

 when Circle in the Square Theatre was an Off Broadway venue. In 1971, it moved to current location in the Paramount Plaza

Paramount Plaza

Paramount Plaza is a 48-story skyscraper on Broadway in New York City that houses two Broadway theatres. In 2007 it was listed as number 46 on the list of tallest buildings in New York City.-History:...

. Its student body is now approximately 200 students.

Notable alumni

The school site lists the following alumni.

• Jace Alexander
  Jace Alexander
  Jace Alexander is an American television director and former actor.-Biography:Alexander was born Jason Alexander in New York City, the only son of actress Jane Alexander and her first husband Robert, founder and former director of The Living Stage...
  
  
• Julie Alter
• Mili Avital
  Mili Avital
  Mili Avital is an Israeli actress. Avital built a successful stage and film career in Israel, winning the Israeli Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1992 and nominated for Best Actress in 1994.-Personal life:...
  
  
• Kevin Bacon
  Kevin Bacon
  Kevin Norwood Bacon is an American film and theater actor whose notable roles include Animal House, Diner, Footloose, Flatliners, Wild Things, A Few Good Men, JFK, Apollo 13, Mystic River, The Woodsman, Trapped, Friday the 13th, Hollow Man, Tremors, Death Sentence, Frost/Nixon, Crazy, Stupid, Love....
  
  
• Robert Bagnell
• Rus Blackwell
• Justin Boccitto
• John Bolger
  John Bolger
  John Emanuel Bolger is an American actor. He attended Holy Family High School and graduated from Bucknell University in 1977 He was a Dorm Resident Adviser as well as appearing in many campus productions. He also played football was a starting linebacker for the Bucknell Bison...
  
  
• Lani Brockman
  Lani Brockman
  Lani Brockman is an American theater actress and director. She is the founder and Artistic Director of Studio East.Lani was born in Seattle and grew up in Hawaii...
  
  
• Richard Brooks
  Richard Brooks (actor)
  Richard L. Brooks is an African-American actor, singer, and director. He is best known for his role as Assistant District Attorney Paul Robinette during the first three seasons of the NBC TV drama Law & Order .Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Brooks studied acting, dance, and voice work at...
  
  
• Woody Brown
• Ralph Bruneau
• Greg Bryk
  Greg Bryk
  Greggory Michael "Greg" Bryk is a Canadian film and television actor. He is best known for playing the role of Mallick in Saw V, Vickor Harris in the 2006 film Living Death, Commando #1 in The Incredible Hulk film, Lone Man in Shoot 'Em Up, Keith Rose in Poor Boy's Game, Abel in Weirdsville, Neil...
  
  
• Kevin Cahoon
  Kevin Cahoon
  Kevin Cahoon is an American actor/singer/songwriter, born in Houston, Texas.-Child performer:Cahoon began his performing career at the age of 5 as 'The World's Youngest Rodeo Clown', performing throughout the Texas and Oklahoma Rodeo Circuits, including many consecutive seasons at The Houston...
  
  
• Rachel Chagall
  Rachel Chagall
  Rachel Chagall is an American actress, who specialized in comedic roles. She best known for roles as Gaby on the film Gaby: A True Story , , for which she was nominated for Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama , and as Val Toriello on The Nanny .- Life and career :Born as...
  
  
• Celeste Clark
• Sarah Clarke
  Sarah Clarke
  Sarah Clarke is an American actress, best known for her role as Nina Myers on 24, and also for her roles as Renée Dwyer, Bella Swan's mother, in the 2008 film Twilight as well as Erin McGuire on the short-lived TV show, Trust Me.-Early life:Clarke was born in St...
  
  
• Ed Clements
• Shae D'Lyn
  Shae D'Lyn
  Shae D'lyn is an American actress. She's best known for her role as Jane Deaux/Cavanaugh on the ABC sitcom Dharma & Greg and as Cousin Vicki in National Lampoons' Vegas Vacation.- Biography :...
  
  
• Benicio del Toro
  Benicio del Toro
  Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez is a Puerto Rican and Spanish actor and film producer. He won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a BAFTA Award for his role as Javier Rodríguez in Traffic . He is also known for his roles as Fred Fenster in The Usual...
  
  
• Anne DeSalvo
• Joe Dietl
• Lisa Edelstein
  Lisa Edelstein
  Lisa Edelstein is an American actress and playwright. She is best known for her role as Dr. Lisa Cuddy on the television drama House.-Early life and education:...
  
  

• Lisa Emery
  Lisa Emery
  Lisa Emery is an American stage, film, and television actress.Emery was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the daughter of an aspiring actress from Charlottesville, Virginia and an advertising executive who worked in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania...
  
  
• Morgan Englund
• Mark Espinoza
• Linda Fiorentino
  Linda Fiorentino
  Linda Fiorentino is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the films Dogma, Vision Quest, Men in Black, After Hours and The Last Seduction.-Personal life:...
  
  
• Patrick Fischler
  Patrick Fischler
  Patrick Fischler is an American actor best known for his roles as Jimmy Barrett on the drama series Mad Men, Dharma Initiative worker Phil on the drama series Lost and Detective Kenny No-Gun on the police drama Southland...
  
  
• Amy Gaipa
  Amy Gaipa
  Amy Gaipa is an American actress. She is best known for playing Trudy Bolt, the female lead character Rose's maid in James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster Titanic....
  
  
• Richard Ganoung
• Barbara Garrick
  Barbara Garrick
  Barbara Garrick is an American actress who portrayed DeDe Halcyon Day in the three television miniseries based on Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City novels. She was nominated for a Gemini Award in 1999 for Further Tales of the City.Garrick was born in Los Angeles, California and graduated from...
  
  
• Gina Gershon
  Gina Gershon
  Gina L. Gershon is an American film, television and stage actress, singer and author, known for her roles in the films Cocktail , Showgirls , Bound , Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back , Face/Off , The Insider , Demonlover , Category 7: The End of the World , P.S...
  
  
• Larry Gleason
• Amanda Green
  Amanda Green
  -Career:Born in New York City, Green was raised on the Upper West Side with brother Adam by parents Phyllis Newman and Adolph Green. From an early age she was exposed to major talents of Broadway musical theatre, including Leonard Bernstein, Jule Styne, and Cy Coleman, all of whom were regular...
  
  
• Helen Greenberg
• Alice Haining
• Page Hannah
  Page Hannah
  Page Hannah is an American television and film actress. She is married to Lou Adler and the couple have four sons, Manny, Ike, Pablo, and Oscar. She is the sister of actress Daryl Hannah...
  
  
• Cecil Hoffman
  Cecil Hoffman
  Cecil Hoffman is an American actress, best known for her portrayal of district attorney Zoey Clemmons in the television series L.A. Law....
  
  
• Philip Seymour Hoffman
  Philip Seymour Hoffman
  Philip Seymour Hoffman is an American actor and director. Hoffman began acting in television in 1991, and the following year started to appear in films...
  
  
• Patty Holley
• Trula Hoosier
• Winnie Holzman
  Winnie Holzman
  Winnie Holzman is an American dramatist, screenwriter and poet. She created the ABC television series My So-Called Life, which earned her an Emmy Award nomination for writing in 1995...
  
  
• Felicity Huffman
  Felicity Huffman
  Felicity Kendall Huffman is an American film, stage, and television actress. She is known for her role as executive producer Dana Whitaker on the ABC television show Sports Night , which earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination, and as hectic supermom Lynette Scavo on the ABC show Desperate...
  
  
• Rick Hurst
  Rick Hurst
  Richard Douglas "Rick" Hurst an American actor who portrayed Deputy Cletus Hogg, Boss Hogg's cousin, in the 1980 to 1983 seasons of The Dukes of Hazzard....
  
  
• Trisha Jeffrey
• Kristen Johnston
  Kristen Johnston
  Kristen Johnston is an American stage, film, and television actress. She may be most famous for her role as Sally Solomon in the television series 3rd Rock from the Sun...
  
  
• Denis Jones
  Denis Jones
  Denis Francis Jones was an Irish Fine Gael politician and school teacher. He was elected to Dáil Éireann for the Limerick West constituency at the 1957 general election. He was re-elected at each subsequent general election until he retired from politics at the 1977 general election...
  
  

• Larry Joshua
  Larry Joshua
  Larry Joshua is an American actor who has appeared in over 50 productions since 1981.Some of his more famous films include The Burning , Sea of Love , Quick Change , A Midnight Clear , Romeo is Bleeding , The X Files , For Love of the Game and Spider-Man...
  
  
• Justin Kirk
  Justin Kirk
  Justin Kirk is an American stage and film actor. He is known for playing Prior Walter in Mike Nichols's screen adaptation of Angels in America and for his portrayal of Andy Botwin in Showtime's Weeds.-Early life and education:Kirk was born in Salem, Oregon, son of a...
  
  
• Michael E. Knight
  Michael E. Knight
  - Biography :Knight is best known for playing Tad Martin on the soap opera All My Children. His first stint on the show ran from 1982–1986. He returned from 1988–1990, and again from 1992 until the series finale in 2011...
  
  
• David Lansbury
• Jonathan LaPaglia
  Jonathan LaPaglia
  Dr. Jonathan LaPaglia, M.B.B.S. is an Australian actor known for his roles as Frank B. Parker in the television series Seven Days, Kevin Debreno in The District and Det...
  
  
• Jill Larson
  Jill Larson
  Jill Larson is an American dramatic actress. She is most widely known for her portrayal of Opal Cortlandt on the popular daytime drama, All My Children, a role she has played for 22 years, garnering her 2 Emmy nominations...
  
  
• Rick Lawless
• Matthew Lillard
  Matthew Lillard
  Matthew Lyn Lillard is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his roles as Stu Macher in Scream, Stevo in SLC Punk , and Shaggy Rogers in the Scooby-Doo film series and the Animated reboot series.-Early life:Lillard was born in Lansing, Michigan, and grew up in Tustin, California...
  
  
• Jessica Lundy
  Jessica Lundy
  Jessica R. Lundy is an American actress. Although she has appeared in several movies, she is noted more for her television roles, especially as Joel Fleishman's fiancee/ex-fiancee Elaine Shulman on the series Northern Exposure...
  
  
• Alec Mapa
  Alec Mapa
  -Personal life:Mapa, a Filipino American, was born in San Francisco and attended George Washington High School . Mapa is openly gay and lends his support to various projects supporting the gay, lesbian, and Asian American communities...
  
  
• Luba Mason
• Jodie Markell
• Andrew McCarthy
  Andrew McCarthy
  Andrew Thomas McCarthy is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the 1980s films St. Elmo's Fire, Mannequin, Weekend at Bernie's, Pretty in Pink, and Less Than Zero, and more recently for his role in the television shows Lipstick Jungle, White Collar and Royal Pains.-Career:McCarthy...
  
  
• John C. McGinley
  John C. McGinley
  John Christopher McGinley is an American actor, most notable for his roles as Perry Cox in Scrubs, Bob Slydell in Office Space, Sergeant Red O'Neill in Oliver Stone's Platoon and Marv in Stone's Wall Street. He has also written and produced for television and film...
  
  
• Kevin McGuire
• Idina Menzel
  Idina Menzel
  Idina Kim Menzel is an American actress, singer and songwriter. She is widely known for originating the roles of Maureen in Rent and Elphaba in Wicked.-Early life:...
  
  
• Karen Oberlin
• Kate O'Toole
  Kate O'Toole (actress)
  Kate E. O'Toole is an Irish actress. She is the daughter of actors Peter O'Toole and Siân Phillips and was named after Katharine Hepburn....
  
  
• Adam Oliensis
• Ken Olin
  Ken Olin
  Kenneth Edward "Ken" Olin is an American actor, director and producer. He is known for his starring role on the television series Thirtysomething, and most recently as Executive Producer, director, and recurring guest star of the television series Brothers & Sisters .-Career:As an actor, Olin...
  
  
• Nicole Ari Parker
  Nicole Ari Parker
  Nicole Ari Parker Kodjoe , also known as Nikki Kodjoe, is an American actress and a former model. She is perhaps best known for her role as attorney Teri Joseph on the Showtime television drama series Soul Food and her role as Becky Barnett in Boogie Nights.-Early life:Parker was born in...
  
  
• Steven Peterman
  Steven Peterman
  -External links:...
  
  
• Robert Picardo
  Robert Picardo
  Robert Picardo is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayals of Dr. Dick Richards on ABC's China Beach, the Emergency Medical Hologram , also known as The Doctor, on UPN's Star Trek: Voyager, The Cowboy in Innerspace, Coach Cutlip on The Wonder Years , Ben Wheeler in Wagons East, and as...
  
  
• Jeremy Radick
• David Rhee

• Michael Rispoli
  Michael Rispoli
  Michael Rispoli is an American character actor. He was formerly part of the HBO television series The Sopranos as Jackie Aprile, Sr...
  
  
• Thomas Sadoski
  Thomas Sadoski
  Thomas Sadoski is an American actor. He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play, the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play and the Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance...
  
  
• Dahlia Salem
  Dahlia Salem
  Dahlia Salem is an American actress. She played Sofia Carlino on Another World and Claire Walsh on General Hospital.-Filmography:* Another World .... Sofia Carlino...
  
  
• Ken Schatz
• Jana Schneider
  Jana Schneider
  Janet Ann Schneider is an American actress and photojournalist.Jana studied at the University of Wisconsin...
  
  
• Jeremy Shamos
• Molly Shannon
  Molly Shannon
  Molly Helen Shannon is an American comic actress best known for her work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1995–2001 and for starring in the films Superstar and Year of the Dog. More recently, she starred in NBC's Kath & Kim from 2008–2009 and on the TBS animated series Neighbors from...
  
  
• Rondell Sheridan
  Rondell Sheridan
  Rondell Jerome Sheridan is an American actor, comedian and television director, best known for his seven-year portrayal of Victor Baxter, the goofy-yet-lovable father of a psychic teenager, in the Disney Channel sitcoms That's So Raven and Cory in the House. Sheridan is an alumnus of Marquette...
  
  
• Constance Shulman
• Tony Spiridakas
• Peter Stebbings
  Peter Stebbings
  Peter Stebbings is a Canadian veteran actor who started practicing his trade at the Vancouver Youth Theater when he was just 12 years old. He worked at various odd jobs growing up, including bus boy and bike courier, before making the serious move to acting...
  
  
• Amy Stiller
  Amy Stiller
  Amy Stiller is an American actress. She is a stand up comedian, in New York City, and also a Bikram Yoga instructor.She was born in New York City, New York, the daughter of the comedy duo Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara , and the older sister of actor Ben Stiller.-Filmography:* Lovers and Other...
  
  
• D. B. Sweeney
  D. B. Sweeney
  Daniel Bernard "D. B." Sweeney is an American actor.-Early life:Sweeney was born on Long Island, New York and raised in Shoreham by an educator father and a municipal government employee mother. He attended Shoreham-Wading River High School and both Tulane and New York University...
  
  
• Maura Tierney
  Maura Tierney
  Maura Therese Tierney is an American film and television actress, who is best known for her roles as Lisa Miller on NewsRadio and Abby Lockhart on the television medical drama ER.-Early life:...
  
  
• Nancy Travis
  Nancy Travis
  Nancy Ann Travis is an American actress. She is known for her roles in films Three Men and a Baby and its sequel, Three Men and a Little Lady , Married to the Mob , Air America , Internal Affairs , So I Married an Axe Murderer , Greedy , and Fluke...
  
  
• Arnetia Walker
  Arnetia Walker
  Arnetia Walker is an American actress whose most famous roles are as Nurse Annie Roland in the NBC sitcom Nurses and Ms. Ross in the WB dramedy Popular....
  
  
• Kevin Weisman
  Kevin Weisman
  Kevin Weisman is an American film, television and stage actor. His best-known acting role was that of Marshall Flinkman on the television series Alias .-Early life:...
  
  
• Kate Wetherhead
• Welker White
  Welker White
  Welker White is an American actress. She has appeared in feature films, television series and stage theatre.-Filmography:*Cedar Rapids as Diane Krogstad* A Dog Year as Brenda King* I Think I Love My Wife as Mary...
  
  
• John Whitesell
  John Whitesell
  John Whitesell is an American film director. He has directed numerous films such as Calendar Girl and Big Momma's House 2 since he started his career as a film director since 1993.-Filmography as director:*Calendar Girl...
  
  
• Nicholas Wyman
• Marco Zunino