NICK GABRIEL
BIO
Nick Gabriel is an award winning theater artist, educator, and administrator. He is currently a tenured, Associate Professor of Theatre in the discipline of acting at Chapman University. As the former Director of Studio A.C.T. at the American Conservatory Theater, he conceived and implemented Studio A.C.T.’s curricular and operational revitalization, focusing on diversification of the faculty and student body. This shift toward a more inclusive model of theatre training greatly increased student enrollment, and generated new tuition revenue for A.C.T.
During his tenure at A.C.T. he also served on the associate faculty of A.C.T.’s Master of Fine Arts program and the core faculty of A.C.T.'s undergraduate programs, the Summer Training Congress and San Francisco Semester. As A.C.T.'s Lead Teaching Artist, he conceived, implemented, and developed curricula for a variety of A.C.T.’s world-class education, community, and professional development programs, most of which are still in operation today.
As an A.C.T. Resident Artist, Gabriel played many principal roles in mainstage productions, including Clov in ENDGAME opposite Tony Award winner Bill Irwin and Nihad in SCORCHED starring Emmy Award winner David Strathairn. At La Jolla Playhouse, he played Zhao Dun in THE ORPHAN OF ZHAO starring Tony Award winner B.D. Wong and at Laguna Playhouse, he played Dr. Lyman Sanderson in HARVEY starring Emmy Award nominee French Stewart. He has also played principal roles in mainstage productions at some of the country’s other major venues such as Milwaukee Rep, California Shakespeare Theater, New York’s Town Hall, South Coast Rep, and the Guthrie. In addition to his work on the classics, Gabriel has originated roles in multiple world premieres. He has danced numerous character roles with the Berkshire Ballet and performed principal singing and speaking roles with the San Francisco Symphony, where he played the Soldier in THE SOLDIER'S TALE alongside Grammy Award winner Elvis Costello as the Narrator and Academy Award winner Malcolm McDowell as the Devil.
He has produced, developed, and directed productions on the many stages of A.C.T., The Knitting Factory, Don't Tell Mama, The Regency Ballroom, the GLBT Historical Society, the Goethe Institut and elsewhere. In 2018, Gabriel facilitated a partnership with Laguna Playhouse that enabled six Chapman University students to perform in the ensemble of THE GRADUATE starring Golden Globe winner Melanie Griffith.
Gabriel teaches workshops and master classes throughout Europe and is a member of the Associate Faculty at the Civica Scuola di Teatro Paolo Grassi in Milan. He has presented his ethno-docudrama at a conference organized by the California Consortium of Italian Studies and, in 2023, he presented a paper on the representation of morality in Luigi Pirandello's SIX CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF AN AUTHOR for the American Association of Teachers of Italian in Catania.
He is an inaugural Fellow of the Ferrucci Institute, a Ten Chimney’s Foundation Lunt-Fontanne Fellow and has received numerous Bay Area Critics Circle Award nominations and wins. In 2011, The Huffington Post named him the second most valuable contributor to the Cultural Landscape of the San Francisco Bay Area. Gabriel is a member of AEA, SDC, and TIE's inaugural Educator Advocate Program. He is a former theater arts curriculum assessor for the New York State Education Department, a certified instructor of the Michael Chekhov Technique, and a recipient of the Teachers 4 Social Justice Award. He received a BFA in musical theater from the University of Michigan and an MFA in acting from A.C.T.
During his tenure at A.C.T. he also served on the associate faculty of A.C.T.’s Master of Fine Arts program and the core faculty of A.C.T.'s undergraduate programs, the Summer Training Congress and San Francisco Semester. As A.C.T.'s Lead Teaching Artist, he conceived, implemented, and developed curricula for a variety of A.C.T.’s world-class education, community, and professional development programs, most of which are still in operation today.
As an A.C.T. Resident Artist, Gabriel played many principal roles in mainstage productions, including Clov in ENDGAME opposite Tony Award winner Bill Irwin and Nihad in SCORCHED starring Emmy Award winner David Strathairn. At La Jolla Playhouse, he played Zhao Dun in THE ORPHAN OF ZHAO starring Tony Award winner B.D. Wong and at Laguna Playhouse, he played Dr. Lyman Sanderson in HARVEY starring Emmy Award nominee French Stewart. He has also played principal roles in mainstage productions at some of the country’s other major venues such as Milwaukee Rep, California Shakespeare Theater, New York’s Town Hall, South Coast Rep, and the Guthrie. In addition to his work on the classics, Gabriel has originated roles in multiple world premieres. He has danced numerous character roles with the Berkshire Ballet and performed principal singing and speaking roles with the San Francisco Symphony, where he played the Soldier in THE SOLDIER'S TALE alongside Grammy Award winner Elvis Costello as the Narrator and Academy Award winner Malcolm McDowell as the Devil.
He has produced, developed, and directed productions on the many stages of A.C.T., The Knitting Factory, Don't Tell Mama, The Regency Ballroom, the GLBT Historical Society, the Goethe Institut and elsewhere. In 2018, Gabriel facilitated a partnership with Laguna Playhouse that enabled six Chapman University students to perform in the ensemble of THE GRADUATE starring Golden Globe winner Melanie Griffith.
Gabriel teaches workshops and master classes throughout Europe and is a member of the Associate Faculty at the Civica Scuola di Teatro Paolo Grassi in Milan. He has presented his ethno-docudrama at a conference organized by the California Consortium of Italian Studies and, in 2023, he presented a paper on the representation of morality in Luigi Pirandello's SIX CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF AN AUTHOR for the American Association of Teachers of Italian in Catania.
He is an inaugural Fellow of the Ferrucci Institute, a Ten Chimney’s Foundation Lunt-Fontanne Fellow and has received numerous Bay Area Critics Circle Award nominations and wins. In 2011, The Huffington Post named him the second most valuable contributor to the Cultural Landscape of the San Francisco Bay Area. Gabriel is a member of AEA, SDC, and TIE's inaugural Educator Advocate Program. He is a former theater arts curriculum assessor for the New York State Education Department, a certified instructor of the Michael Chekhov Technique, and a recipient of the Teachers 4 Social Justice Award. He received a BFA in musical theater from the University of Michigan and an MFA in acting from A.C.T.