ABOUT BK
“He’s a master at understanding people and situations. That not only makes him great at helping you break down a scene, it also makes him a great teacher in that he understands different people have differnt ways of learning.”
⎯ Rooney Mara
ABOUT BK..
A graduate of Tufts University, Bob Krakower started his teaching career at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. Mentored by Conservatory Director Allen Fletcher, he was teaching first year graduate acting, directing projects, and given the job of Associate Director of Conservatory at the age of twenty-four. He then went on to work in the same capacity with Mr. Fletcher at the National Theatre Conservatory.
Soon after that, he took over the acting program at another landmark institution, the Tony Award winning Actors Theatre of Louisville, where he was a resident director for the company as well. He was one of the main creative forces behind ATL’s Shorts Festivals, producing and/or directing over 100 projects, including world-premieres by Howard Korder, Lanford Wilson, Jane Anderson, Jane Martin, and many more.
He served as Director of the Atlantic Theatre Company Acting School, running both the Professional and NYU Undergraduate Divisions. And along with Earle Gister, Lloyd Richards, J. Michael Miller, and others, is a founding faculty member of The Actor’s Center in New York. He has been a guest teacher at Yale, Harvard, & NYU and created Screen Acting Programs at UNCSA and Juilliard, where he is currently teaching.
In addition to his rich theatrical background, he spent a year learning the business side of acting from Susan Smith at her highly respected agency in New York and worked in film & television casting on several projects for ABC, MTV, Paramount, HBO, Nickelodeon, and others.
As an on-camera director he has helmed multiple television episodes, and his documentary film “John Pinette: You Go Now” was selected as the opening night feature at the Cinequest Film Festival.
For over thirty years, he has coached on countless film & television productions; hired by studios, networks, producers, writers, directors, and actors alike. Started in 1992, he teaches one of the longest ongoing acting classes in NYC. And whether he’s working with students, celebrities, stand-ups, or actors, he does so with what Emmy Award Winning Director Michael Lembeck has called “the most passionate, kindest, and brightest approach I’ve ever seen.”
He lives in New York City.
“I would need more space and time than I have to list the reasons I love working with Bob. No one in this business cares more about actors than he does.”
⎯ Nikki M. James
“He has completely changed the way I look at every script, whether it’s film,TV or theatre. And on top of that, he happens to be one of the greatest people you will ever meet.”
⎯ Aaron Tveit
“Bob is simply the best teacher of the craft that I have ever come across. The detail work that he employs incomparable. The care that he takes with actors is unmatched. To put simply, I am ten times a better actor today because of having worked with him”
⎯ Glenn Davis
“Bob is without question the best acting teacher and coach I have ever had the privilege to observe. He has a savant-like ability to key into an individual actor’s process, and to help them recognize their own strengths, weaknesses, habits, potentials…with results that can really be transformational. He does it all in a refreshingly down to earth and non-invasive way. I can’t recommend him highly enough. “
⎯ Kathleen Chopin
“As an acting coach, Bob has proven, time and again, to be an essential piece to the production puzzle.”
⎯ Joe Davola
“Working with Bob is a brilliant throw-back to the scene work I did with Stella Adler and Morris Carnovsky. He’s a remarkably intelligent and sensitive coach who can help you exact a place where the character starts and lives, and then through his acute observations of both you and the text, urge you to a very real and dynamic place. He has coached me on two Broadway plays and several tv auditions. He is a rare combination of your most sage theatre professor and the coolest tv/film producer all wrapped up in one. His ability to make me feel I can fulfill any material — be it “A Streetcar Named Desire” or a scene from “Seinfeld” — is unparalleled .
⎯ Jessica Hecht
“I insist all my clients that need to work on their craft run not walk to Bob’s class. The results are remarkable.”
⎯ Rhonda Price
“I have been a working director for a long time. Often I am asked…”where should I study?”, “…..who do you recommend as an acting teacher?” This is a significant question. It is a question I take a lot of responsibility for before responding. For me, there is only one answer. I have sat in the back and observed more acting classes then one can imagine…”
⎯ Michael Lembeck