Flora Plumb, after twenty years in the theatre as an actress, became a director with her award-winning production of David Mamet's The Duck Variations. Since becoming a director, a majority of her productions have been recommended or listed as a "Critic's Choice" in one or more publications, four times by The Los Angeles Times. Most recently she directed Translations by Brian Friel, Buried Child by Sam Shepard, an award-winning production of Uncle Vanya, the west coast premiere of Mark Medoff's The Homage That Follows, and an unusual and highly acclaimed production of A Midsummer Night's Dream performed by five actors. She also directed the World Premiere of The Cottage by Julie Gilbert, Sticks and Bones by David Rabe, Ladies At the Alamo by Paul Zindel, Fragments by Murray Schisgal, Sam Shepard's The Rock Garden and novelist Don DeLillo's absurdist comedy The Day Room. Ms. Plumb is in her fourteenth year teaching and directing at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, where she directed Stand and Deliver, adapted with the filmmakers from their screenplay; The Seagull; Sam Shepard's Angel City; The Importance Of Being Earnest; Romeo and Juliet; A Midsummer Night's Dream; As You Like It; Our Town; Becoming Memories, a musical; three pieces she adapted from poetry and songs: Subterranean Homesick Blues - Some Other Kinds Of Poems by Bob Dylan, Ascension, Poems For New America, and La Poesia - A Tree Within, and several Shakespeare programs. Last year she co-directed The Cherry Orchard with LACHSA Theatre Department Chair Vicky Silva. For seven years Ms. Plumb and Ms. Sliva have also co-directed the Commencement Exercises for Arts High School at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Ms. Plumb was last seen as an actress as Mrs. Webb in Our Town. Ms. Plumb has worked as a producer and lighting designer and served as president of Theatre 40 for three years.
Classes
2nd Year Acting
Erica Robson is a virtuoso in the field of performing arts as a highly charismatic actor, dancer, singer, choreographer and teacher. Prior to her graduation from Los Angeles County High School of the Arts in 1995, where she cultivated her talent into artistic excellence, Erica captured the attention and adoration of audiences worldwide in her role as Judy Turner in the International and European touring companies of A Chorus Line. Erica went on to direct and choreography: A Chorus Line, Grease, Oliver, Music Man, A Tale of the Tape, Broadway revues, music videos and numerous industrials. She has been featured in the films: Oceans 11, Loony Toons Back in Action, Bedazzled, Monkeybone and was the lead in Paulie Charmed the Sleeping Woman. On television, she was a series regular on Ultimate Revenge and was featured in Days of Our Lives, Young and Restless and starred in Equal Justice. Erica has appeared in over thirty national and international commercials and hundreds of theatrical stage performances. She just returned from performing the world tour of Latin recording superstar, Chayanne. Erica finds herself in a position of passion wanting to give back to the industry that has fueled her life. With her innate talent for teaching, Erica’s focus is on developing the artistic spirit of young people while encouraging them to follow their dreams to fulfill their vision of who they want to become. Through innovative techniques, extensive personal experience and an unshakable commitment, Erica has gained respect and popularity among the student body and faculty. Her goal is to continue to inspire and contribute excellence in the field of performing arts.
2nd Year Movement
Christopher Fairbanks, Level 2 Voice and Speech teacher at LACHSA, received his BFA, with honors, from New York University and his MFA from UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television. Mr. Fairbanks is a voice technician extraordinaire, specializing in Voice-Speech-Accents and Dialects. He is on the staff of the Stella Adler Conservatory teaching accent reduction. He is also a staff member of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles and New York where he teaches Voice and Speech; Accents and Dialects; the International Phonetic Alphabet; Linklater-based tension and release techniques; and the Alexander principles of physical and vocal freedom. A professor at UCLA, Mr. Fairbanks instructed undergraduate theatre students in the fundamentals of breathing/vocalizing, listening/responding, playing objectives and self-exploration through ten-minute monologues. He also works on films, applying specific vocal training for small groups of actors.
Mr. Fairbanks's additional talents include improvisational comedy. He says the most challenging teaching job thus far was working in San Francisco at the Improv Comedy Traffic School where "I attempted to amuse and "motor-safety" inform an angry captive audience that expected to be delighted for eight hours despite their own negativity. There was occasional success!"
Classes
2nd Year Voice and Speech
Classes
2nd Year Theatre History