TESTIMONIALS
Graduate School Audition Coaching
"Gabe is a phenomenal teacher and coach! I am so grateful for the strides I was able to make in my acting while working with him. He is intuitive and shrewd, and his infusion of clown in his teaching really helped me to embrace and play with the parts of myself I was holding back. He challenged me to be exposed and foot-forward with my characters, and to work from a place of hope and positivity. He has an extensive knowledge of contemporary and classical plays and helped me choose material for grad school auditions that fit like a glove but had lots of variety and surprise. I was accepted to Yale Drama, my top choice MFA program, and I owe so much of that success to the wisdom and experience he shared with me."
- Madeline Seidman, Yale School of Drama '22, A League of Their Own (Amazon Prime) |
"Gabe is the kind of coach and person who immediately makes you feel at ease. His warmth and kindness throughout the grad school process was invaluable, and I feel very lucky to have worked with him. Gabe holds the secret to cracking actors open––giving them tangible tools to be open, vulnerable, and wholly themselves in the audition room. A session with Gabe is always an instant confidence boost. I was accepted to my top choice MFA program, NYU, and I could not have done it without him."
- Grace Campos, NYU '27 |
"Working with Gabe as a coach when I was applying to graduate school and taking his class, "Acting as Play" have both been instrumental in my development both as an actor. Previously, I often felt trapped in my head, disconnected from the physical joy and fear inherent in acting. Gabe’s approach emphasizes integrating the imagination with the physicality of the actor, offering actionable techniques that helped me engage both mind and body in my craft. I’m a different actor because of him, a better one and a more playful one. After graduating, his confidence in my abilities, especially evident during our Zoom sessions preparing for my first major film audition, not only made the process clearer and more accessible but also profoundly impacted my teaching style. I now embody a more playful, insightful perspective in my own coaching, thanks to his nurturing and transformative guidance. I cannot recommend him enough for anyone looking to apply to graduate school and profoundly enhance their acting skills."
-Gregory Georges, Yale School of Drama '22 |
"Gabe is a gifted coach and teacher who approaches the MFA process with individualization and without a formula- because there isn’t one. He was absolutely instrumental in my acceptance to NYU Grad Acting as well as my callbacks at other schools. Days before my auditions, Gabe wasn’t convinced one of my pieces was really working for me, and he asked me to go through an old monologue folder of pieces from years ago and read them for him. There was one piece from undergrad, that I hadn’t touched in years, that really stood out to him and he encouraged me to make a switch. I was initially anxious about making a change so last minute and because I found that piece to be quite difficult/ not the “type” of character that I thought people would want to see me do, but Gabe challenged me to push past this apprehension. He helped me understand why this piece reflected more both of who I am and what I was actively working through as an actor - and how this would help the admissions teams actually see why I would be a good candidate for grad school. I trusted him, and I believe this piece selection not only got me into school, but was the first major step in a particular area of my growth as an actor. Gabe is a generous and playful teacher who is also uniquely knowledgeable about MFA admissions process. I am beyond grateful for his guidance and the push to take the risk that began a formative journey of risk- taking and play at NYU and beyond."
- Maryn Shaw, NYU '23 |
"Gabe was my MFA audition coach. Applying to schools can be stressful and confusing, but Gabe walked me through every step of the process and made it fun. He worked with me to select material that I was excited about, gave insightful feedback on my work which helped me grow as an artist, and helped me hold on to that sense of passion and play on the big day. As a coach, he is engaged, attentive, and works to highlight what's special about 'you' - at the end of the process I felt like I had a unique, coherent presentation developed from of my own strengths instead of just a random bunch of monologues. One year later, I'm about to start classes at my top choice of schools! I can't recommend him enough."
-Andrew Gombas, Brown University/Trinity Rep '22 |
"What can I say about Gabe?! He practically gave me a new life from the other side of the world when everything came to a standstill due to the Corona virus!!
Gabe is going to believe in you no matter what. He is the support system that every young actor yearns for. He will help you channel your inner child - the 5-year-old who actually knew how to be free, to be bold, to dream. Gabe has a very special gift of bringing out the best in every actor, and I can’t thank him enough for the gift of play he has given me - not only as an actor but as the person I am today. And, with one simple adjustment to my audition monologue the day before I went in, Gabe transformed my approach, and I was accepted into my dream school In London!" - Adi Bhattacharya, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London '22 |
TV/Film/Theatre Audition Coaching & Character Development
"Gabe is not only one of my favorite actors, but he also one of the most insightful minds regarding acting I’ve ever come across - academically and professionally. I almost always go to him to ask him his thoughts- not only because of his precise, holistic analysis, but I just love to talk about acting with him. His passion is infectious, and I can always count on him to provide thoughts or feedback that inspires me and massively affects my thinking on a role. You have to work with him to know what I’m talking about. I genuinely believe he is the positive future of acting training in America. Practical tools and freed imagination is what I feel good acting training is, and Gabe is one of the absolute best."
-Mamoudou Athie, Elemental, Jurassic Park: Dominion. |
"Gabe helped me so much! He has guided me with both theatre and on-camera jobs. He allows time to really discuss the scenes together and still play around. I love how he sees text and so I really value his feedback when prepping roles. I always feel very inspired after our sessions and I have an 100 percent callback success rate when we have worked together on auditions!"
-Della Saba, AppleTV's Physical |
"Coaching with Gabe is absolutely worth your time. I've worked with Gabe on a range of different material and every time I felt more confident in my capabilities as an actor afterwards. During times when acting became way too complex and inflated, Gabe brought me back down to earth so I could have fun with my work."
-Brian Altemus, Mean Girls |
"I don’t know how else to describe what sharing space and working with Gabe felt like from the get-go, other than what the Grinch ~must~ have felt when his heart grew a few sizes bigger. Gabe has an innate gift at opening someone’s heart wide open and seeing the human beneath it all. What an honor to learn and get curious by his side. His genuine care, generosity and commitment is maybe only matched by his wild ability to play. Fair warning: his coaching might induce uncontrollable laughter and newly found inspiration."
- Gabriela Safa, Daisy Jones & The Six |
New Work Development
"In my life -- and it's been a LOOOOONG one -- I have had a lot of acting teachers and coaches, and I can honestly say Gabe is Top 3 (okay, Top 1 but I don't wanna hurt feelings out there!). His coaching for my one-person show was spot-on, and I could have never been my true self onstage during that show if it hadn't been for him. Oh, and he's patient too! For this old broad, he needed to be!"
- Lisa Lampanelli, Grammy winning actor, writer and retired standup comedian. |
"Gabe helped me prep for the acting role of my career, a lead in a film I wrote in which I was an adult son confronted by my ailing father’s wish for assisted suicide. I had trained as an actor in Meisner but could not reliably “bring it” for this role. Gabe helped me relax and have fun with it both by connecting me to my playful expressive self and by digging into the specifics of this character’s struggle. On shoot day, I used Gabe’s process to warm myself up and do the scenes with the joy of full expression of all the emotions that come with life and death challenges. The film went on to be a festival favorite and recipient of multiple awards.
- Richard Snyder, standup comedian, award winning film maker, and actor. |
"Gabe isn't your typical acting coach. He helped me focus on what matters and reminded me that the work should be exciting. When I felt stuck following prescriptive methods, he helped me find freedom and joy in my performance. Gabe was extremely helpful when I prepared for a feature film I was directing and acting in. And when the stakes were highest, he was there, on set, knowing what to say to help me get where I needed to go.
What I remember and cherish most from our sessions is being reminded that acting is not so much about the preoccupation with one's inner life as it is about allowing oneself to engage with the world, and having the courage to let it take you places... Other then being an excellent coach, Gabe is also a generous, wonderful person, and a talented and unique actor/creator, who I'm so glad I had the opportunity to meet." - Galia Barkol, writer/director/lead actor Don't Let the Night End, now streaming on Amazon Prime. |
Additional Testimonials
"When I decided that I wanted to apply for MFA programs, I knew that I needed a coach who could not only help me with my monologues but also someone who understands the process of auditioning for these programs. Thankfully, I met Gabe during a summer program at Yale, and the rest is history. Gabe never approaches an actor with a one-size-fits-all approach. He meets you where you're at. When I didn't even know which monologues to look at, Gabe immediately knew where to guide me and helped me find pieces that I not only loved but that felt like an extension of myself. His approach to the text is filled with so much practicality and play that it's impossible not to feel prepared for any program you're applying to. And while our goal was to prepare for my auditions, I came out of our time together as a much better actor and with some of the unbelievable knowledge that I was lucky enough to have Gabe continuously drop in our sessions. I couldn't recommend Gabe more, not only as a coach but as someone on your team who will make this process significantly more fun than it would otherwise be."
"Gabe is truly a light and comfort. Every time I walked into Gabe’s studio, I was instantly filled with the desire to play. I felt safe and familiar, which allowed me the freedom to present the work I’ve done and build on that without inhibition. His approach brings out, and fosters, your truth and your colors through character. I left each session buzzing with excitement and joy for the work I’d done and confident I knew where to go next. I am incredibly grateful for the recommendation to work with Gabe and look forward to continuing to connect with him, even as I take time as an Acting Apprentice with the Actors Theatre of Louisville."
"I've never worked with someone before who was able to get me out of my head so quickly. Gabe's process as a coach gave me the tools that got me into grad school and that I've continued to use daily in my professional career. I can't thank him enough."
"Gabe’s instincts as a coach are crazily more mature than his relative youth leads on. I always find myself comparing him more to my master teachers (Chris Bayes, Olympia Dukakis, and Jim Calder, with whom I've worked extensively) than others, as his eye is earnestly that sharp and that fast. Gabe is just as important in my group of teachers I keep looking to for aid. He is my primary theatre coach and I’ve loved how our common language from clown and his own teachings have meshed flawlessly into a very seamless process for me."
"Gabe is an extremely insightful teacher and coach. He is always able to find the right words and the right exercises for me to get in touch with my characters. He is excellent at analyzing scripts, which has helped me improve my own analysis. But most importantly, he integrates clown work in his coaching sessions and brings back the play in all of my work."
"Gabe is always connected and intuitive, anything but dogmatic. I keep coming for answers, and after every session, I walk out with more questions, more chaos, more acceptance of the fact that I'm not in the driver's seat - which is a good thing. When acting feels stale, aiming to please and planned, Gabe shakes things up and reminds me how much fun it is when I take risks, when I live in the moment, in my body and in my insecurity, and when I allow what I'm interacting with to truly affect me. Every time I think I might fall out of love with acting, working with Gabe ignites that fire again."