2015 Summer Graduation Speakers Announced!
October 01, 2015 - Announcements, Featured
With our soon-to-be graduates preparing to enter the professional world, we are honored to announce the keynote speakers for AMDA’s 2015 Summer Graduation Ceremonies: Broadway veteran Christopher Sieber will speak at AMDA New York’s commencement on Saturday, October 3, while actress/songwriter/novelist Krystal Joy Brown will address graduates at AMDA Los Angeles on Saturday, October 10. These incredible alumni were selected for the dedication, passion, and humility they bring to their professional careers, qualities which AMDA aims to instill in every student stepping foot onto our campuses. We look forward to the wisdom and insight they will offer this semester’s dedicated group of aspiring performers!
Two-time Tony Award nominee Christopher Sieber has starred in more than 12 Broadway productions, including Beauty and the Beast (Gaston), Chicago (Billy Flynn), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Trevor Graydon), Into the Woods (Rapunzel’s Prince), and the recent revival of Pippin (King Charlemagne). He’s most well known, however, for his Tony-nominated role as the height-challenged monarch, Lord Farquaad, in Broadway’s Shrek the Musical, as well as his Tony-nominated role in the original Broadway cast of Monty Python’s Spamalot. He can currently be found on Broadway (of course) playing the curmudgeon headmistress, Agatha Trunchbull, in the hit show Matilda The Musical.
Actress, songwriter, singer, and budding novelist Krystal Joy Brown booked her first professional gig as Mimi in the national tour of Rent shortly after graduating AMDA. Following her Broadway debut in the Tony Award-winning revival of Hair, Krystal received a Fred & Adele Astaire Award nomination for each of her originating roles in two Broadway musicals: Ornella in Alan Menken’s Leap of Faith and Josephine in Big Fish, directed by Susan Stroman. An avid songwriter, Krystal’s original music was recently featured on ABC’s “The Neighbors” and “Mistresses.” She is currently working on a musical project with Randy Jackson ("American Idol").