BADA STUDIO – WINTER 2026 EVENTS IN CHICAGO

We are pleased to announce our next round of in-person BADA Studio events in Chicago in February!

Physical First Text Work with Jeff Perry

Where: TBC
When: Monday, February 23rd. 1:00-4:00pm
Class Limit: 12

Fee: $50

Using different Viewpoints tools, Jeff will help the participants use physicality to allow actors to dig deeper into their text. Physical First Text work allows actors to play and dive deeper into their authentic selves to bring the most out of the text.

Register

Jeff Perry (Actor, Teacher, Director)

• Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Co-Founder of Steppenwolf Theatre, The School At Steppenwolf, Steppenwolf Classes West, Steppenwolf Films. Acted and directed in over 40 productions.

• Broadway: The Caretaker, The Grapes of Wrath, August:Osage County

• Off Broadway: Balm In Gilead, Tribes, Educating Rita

• Regional: Streamers, Time of Your Life, Anna Christie, A Steady Rain

• International: The Grapes of Wrath, August: Osage County

• Film: A Wedding, Remember My Name, Trial By Fire

• Television: Nash Bridges, Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, 1$, Dirty John, Inventing Anna

• Upcoming: Co-Producer The Steppenwolf Theatre Documentary

ADLERIMPROV: Spontaneity for Scripted Stage and Screen with Rob Adler (MIO ’94)

Where: TBC
When: Saturday, February 21st. 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Class Limit: 24
Fee: $50

BADA Alum (MIO ‘94) and Co-Head of DePaul’s BFA Acting Program, Rob Adler, leads this Viola Spolin-rooted workshop to bring life to scripted material for stage and screen ADLERIMPROV is an approach developed by Rob Adler that helps actors bring life to scripted material for stage and screen.

The work is rooted in Viola Spolin’s theatre games and provides practical tools for moment-to-moment acting while staying grounded in the demands of text and the realities of the profession.

Selected participants will apply the tools directly to prepared scenes, while all participants will explore the work through non-text-based exercises. All techniques taught are transferable to scripted scenes and support self-tapes, auditions, and performance.

Actors should expect to work actively on their feet in a collaborative studio environment.

Register

Rob Adler (MIO ’94) is an actor, director, and teacher, and the founder of AdlerImprov Studio in Hollywood. He works as an on camera acting coach on film and television productions with major studios and networks including Netflix, BET, Lionsgate, Disney, FOX, NBC, and ABC, helping actors navigate the technical and relational demands of professional sets while maintaining truthful, responsive performance.

He is currently the Co-Head of the BFA Acting Program at The Theatre School at DePaul University. His teaching career spans a wide range of respected training environments, including California Institute of the Arts, Geffen Playhouse, AMDA, Boston University, and Occidental College.

Adler has also led international workshops in Tokyo, Shanghai, and Nassau, bringing his Adlerimprov approach to actors working across cultural, linguistic, and performance traditions. His work consistently emphasizes presence and transformation, with improvisation techniques serving as a rigorous tool for unlocking spontaneity and specificity within scripted material.

His writing appears in Theatre Topics and Theatre Journal, and he is an Expert Advice columnist for Backstage. Follow him on Instagram @AdlerImprov.

Finding Your Own Voice in Shakespeare with Chris Anthony

Where: TBC
Date/Time: Sunday, February 22nd. 11:00 am-2:00 pm
Class Limit: 15
Fee: $50

An intensive workshop Shakespeare session designed to help students find their authentic selves in Shakespeare’s work

Take some time to infuse Shakespeare text with a secret ingredient- YOU!

It doesn’t matter how long it has been since you dove into text work, or if you ever have at all.

This workshop will help you connect body, word, and spirit to give Shakespeare’s words a personal touch.

Register

Chris Anthony is a director, teacher, actor, and producer working at the intersection of art and community empowerment. Holding an MFA in Acting from the California Institute of the Arts, she has worked in educational, professional, and community spaces. She has worked to find common ground between art and community, using human relations dialogue to enrich artistic practice and artmaking in service of community development.

Chris was a member of the acting faculty at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and Grand Arts (the LAUSD School of Visual and Performing Arts). University directing credits include California State Universities at Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Northridge, as well as Loyola Marymount University. She has been a guest teacher at USC, CSU Dominguez Hills, Cal Poly Pomona, and Laverne University.

Professional directing credits include the original Off the Rails for Native Voices at the Autry, Lunch Lady Courage at Cornerstone Theater, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo & Juliet, and Othello at the St. Louis Black Rep, and Romeo & Juliet at the Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles.

As Associate Artistic Director of the Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles, she oversaw the development of the company’s Youth & Education programs: Will Power to Youth, Will to Work, and Play On for youth; Will Power to Schools and the Youth Arts Professionals Institute for classroom teachers and community arts practitioners. Will Power to Youth won the prestigious Coming Up Taller Award, was studied by Harvard’s Project Zero for the study The Qualities of Quality: Understanding Excellence in Arts Education, and is featured in Ayanna Thompson’s Passing Strange: Shakespeare, Race, and Contemporary America.

A former board member of TYA/USA, her other professional affiliations have included Center Theatre Group, About… Productions, TeAda Productions, Fringe Benefits Theatre, Plaza de la Raza, and Shakespeare at the Huntington.