Stella Adler Studio of Acting History
1889-Jacob Adler, star of the Yiddish Theater, immigrates to New York City and creates a company of his own, ushering in a new, more serious Yiddish Theater.
1904-The Grand Street Theater, on the corner of Canal Street and Bowery, is built for Jacob Adler and is the first theater dedicated to Yiddish Theater.
1931-Harold Clurman, Cheryl Crawford, and Lee Strasberg recruit 28 actors to form a permanent ensemble, The Group Theater, which is dedicated to dramatizing the life of their times. Stella is an original member.
1938-Stella Adler travels to Paris to meet with Constantine Stanislavski. They work daily and intensively for five weeks. Stella returns to New York with a fresh perspective on Stanislavski's System. She will be the only American to study with Stanislavski.
1949-Stella Adler starts a school for acting that would last decades and touch every part of American Theatre. Combining what she had learned from the Yiddish Theatre, Broadway, Hollywood, and Stanislavski, she opened the Stella Adler Theatre Studio (later renamed the Stella Adler Studio of Acting).
1969-The Stella Adler Studio of Acting becomes the first professional training school to become affiliated with New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.
1993-The Stella Adler Studio of Acting creates The Harold Clurman Lecture Series in an effort to keep students in touch with larger theatrical traditions, uniting professional writers, directors, musicians, dancers and actors with aspiring actors at the Studio. It is free and open to the public.
2000-The Stella Adler Studio of Acting obtains 501(c)(3) status and moves its headquarters to its current location in the heart of Chelsea.
2001-The inaugural Stella by Starlight gala is held and Sidney Lumet, Harold Bloom and Benicio Del Toro are honored with awards.
2003-The Stella Adler Studio implements the Stella Adler Outreach Division, providing free actor training, scholarships and internship opportunities to New York City's low-income youth.
2004-Warren Beatty becomes the Studio's Honorary Chairman, filling the role that had previously been held by Marlon Brando.
2005-In an effort to create future audiences for Dance, Movement Theater, Performance Art and all live performance, the Studio's Center for New Works in Movement and Dance Theater (MAD) implements a residency program.
2006-The Stella Adler Studio of Acting presents the first annual Harold Clurman Festival of the Arts--a four day festival of poetry, music, theatre and artistic discussion--exploring the theme of Art and Social Activism. The Festival benefits the Adler Outreach Division, which to date has provided training to over 1,400 inner-city youth.
2008-The Stella Adler Studio upgrades its facilities and expands to a record 20,000 square feet of training space and over 300 full-time students.
