Today we’d like to introduce you to Allen Barton.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I started at the BHP as an acting student in 1990, right out of college. I was looking to avoid a girl I had a crush on who had moved to New York. Turns out in the time it took for me to figure out my move to LA, she had also moved to LA. And she studied at the BHP.
So that’s how I started: trying to avoid a girl in New York City and then ending up at the same acting class as her in Los Angeles. I quickly came under the mentorship of Milton Katselas, the founder of the BHP and one of the most famous acting teachers of the late 20th century. Milton was a force of nature, and between 1992 and his death in 2008, I worked with him personally on an almost daily basis. I didn’t have money for tuition at some point, so he let me start working at the office, and I rose in the ranks there to become CFO in 1996 and then CEO in 2003.
I became Milton’s editor, and reworked and co-wrote his articles and books during this time. I moved from acting to writing and directing, and began directing plays at the BHP for many years before becoming a playwright myself in 2010. One night in 2001, Milton called me up out of the blue and had me go substitute teach one of the classes, which began a teaching apprenticeship that extended several years as well. In the year before he passed away, he and I taught the Advanced classes together.
When Milton died in 2008, he left me a controlling interest in the BHP, and a new chapter began for the school. In the ten years since, I have sought to maintain everything I thought made the BHP a unique and special place to study acting, while moving the culture, structure, and policies in a direction I felt better suited the current generation of students. I’m very happy that in 2018, the BHP Acting School is going strong, active in three cities, and still fertile ground for both experienced actors and those new to the craft.
I’m coming up on 28 years since I first walked into the BHP, and I’m one of the fortunate few who simply loves his job and looks forward to every day at the BHP, both its challenges and rewards.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
As with any journey, the road has not always been smooth. Katselas was a mercurial character with a legendary Greek temperament, and working with him for all those years was sometimes a trial. The biggest struggle, however, was after Milton died.
While he had left me the business to run, he also messed up large portions of his estate plan, and it required four years of legal fees, wrangling and sleepless nights to save the business and the legendary theatre building from its own founder’s irresponsibility.
The other challenge is that of the business itself. I had a very Type-A business type once ask me to describe our business model. My response: “We sell a very specific kind of communication about a very hard-to-understand art form to clients who are largely struggling, broke, and prone to depression and discouragement.
In order to deliver this service, I need about 8,000 SF of old, broken down theatre space and a staff of people who have the same profile as the clients.” He just shook his head, and replied, “Hell of a business.” On the bad days, I’m inclined to agree with him.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
The Beverly Hills Playhouse is one of LA’s oldest and most respected acting schools. We provide ongoing acting instruction for both working professional actors and those who aspire to a professional career. What sets us apart from other schools is both a matter of technique and culture.
Our technique is based on a three-pronged approach addressing Acting, Attitude, and Administration. All acting schools have their own acting technique, but ours is supplemented by specific attention as well on maintaining a professional attitude, and a business-minded approach to one’s “Administration” — our term for ‘what you are doing to move this career forward.’
So the hallmark of a BHP-trained actor is not only that they can act well, but they will behave well on set, they will be problem solvers, and they are people who take a proactive approach to developing their career. Culturally, the BHP is known for it’s high-energy, highly supportive classes.
We produce our own theatre, our own film festivals, the classes are generally full of people who are upbeat, have high morale, and are genuinely supportive and encouraging of their classmates. This vibe is something that very much sets us apart in a business that can be known for negativity and sniping at one another. The BHP is an oasis for the highly motivated actor in Los Angeles.
What were you like growing up?
I grew up the youngest of eight children outside Boston, MA. There was a lot of general culture and arts interest in the family, and I grew up with piano lessons at an early age, and an older brother who was taking me to NYC/Broadway to see the original “A Chorus Line” and “Chicago” in 1976 when I was eight years old.
It was a Salinger-esque kind of upbringing. I went on to become a high-level classical pianist as a background avocation and was made a Steinway Artist in 2010. I recorded five CDs and still perform live recitals every so often.
But as a kid, I played piano for all the school musicals, and so from an early age was exposed to theatre, and in my role as rehearsal pianist, had an unintended apprenticeship in watching actors, writers, directors, and designers work that quartet of skills again and again in service of stories and how they can affect the audience.
Contact Info:
- Address: 254 S. Robertson Blvd. Beverly Hills, CA 90211
- Website: www.bhplayhouse.com
- Phone: 310-855-1556
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @beverlyhillsplayhouse
- Facebook: @beverlyhillsplayhosue
- Twitter: @beverlyhillsplayhouse
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