Madelin Seidman
David Geffen School of Drama at Yale
A League of Their Own (Amazon Prime)
"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 materials 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."
"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."
Michael Kishon
Actor
Maryn Shaw
NYU Grad Acting
"Gabe was instrumental in my acceptance to NYU Grad Acting. Days before my auditions, Gabe wasn't convinced one of my pieces was really working for me. He asked me to go through my old monologue folder and read them for him. There was one piece, which 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 what I thought people would want to see me do. Gabe challenged me to push past this apprehension and helped me understand why this piece reflected more of who I am, what I was working through as an actor, and how this would help the admissions team actually see me. I trusted him, and I believe the switch not only got me into school, but was the first major step in a particular area of growth as an actor."
"Working with Gabe as a coach when I was applying to graduate school and taking his class, 'Acting as Play' has been instrumental in my development 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."
Gregory Georges
David Geffen School of Drama at Yale
"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 Grad Acting
"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 Roy Bhattacharya
Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London
Andrew Gombas
Brown University / Trinity Rep
"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 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."
"Gabe has one of the most insightful minds regarding acting I've ever come across. 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 inspired 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
Jurassic Park: Dominion; Elemental
"Having weekly private lessons with Gabe has been everything I've hoped for and more. With his remarkable way of combining play and text analysis, we've developed a practical methodology that helps me bring my opened heartiness, fun and fuller self into all of my work. Working weekly has been deeply impactful and I cannot recommend taking private lesson with Gabe more highly."
Benjamin Lang
Actor
"In my life -- and it's been a LOOOOOON 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
Two-time Grammy nominee, actor, writer and retired standup comedian
Gabriela Safa
Sweethearts
"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."
"Coaching with Gabe is an absolute must. I've worked with Gabe on a wide range of material and every time we meet I feel more confident in my capabilities as an actor. During times when acting became way too complex and inflated, Gabe brought me back down to earth so I could have fun and free myself up to do my best work on set."
Brian Altemus
Mean Girls, Harlan Coben's Shelter
"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 session and I have a 100 percent callback success rate when we have worked together on auditions!"
Della Saba
Wish, AppleTV's Physical
"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 specific of this character's struggle. On the day of the shoot, 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 filmmaker, and actor
Christine Friale
Actor, Vocalist, Writer, Composer
"Gabe is brilliant, gifted and has a huge heart. I've been working with Gabe for a couple of years now. He is always an amazing sounding board and guide as I've been working on non-traditional roles, devising new work and looking for ways to reimagine my approach in general. Gabe has absolutely been my secret sauce and I've not only been having incredibly fun in my projects but I've been finding personal liberation in the work and in my overall sense of artistry. I recommend Gabe often and recommend him now."