Beau Gravitte is New Chair of Drama Department at Wooster School

Mr. Beau Gravitte has accepted the newly-created position of Chair of the Drama Department at Wooster School. Beau holds a BA in acting and directing from Baylor University, and has been a working actor/director for over thirty years, and has worked extensively and consistently in theatre and television on both coasts. His acting credits run to several pages. He has also taught actors at the Actors Studio in New York City, and served as a co-instructor of master classes in Musical There. He has produced a play for young people, and was both an actor and a co-producer of Pinter’s Betrayal in both New York and Ridgefield.

When he visited Wooster, at the suggestion of long-time Wooster parent and Trustee John Katz, who is a neighbor, he was so captivated by what he saw and heard that he threw his hat into the ring for this position. Wooster is pleased that his was the winning hat.  Beau lives in Ridgefield with his wife, Debbie Shapiro Gravitte, and three children.

To paraphrase from his philosophy statement: “Almost all young actors mistake ‘acting’ for ‘feeling.’ I am very, very big on ‘doing.’ … Courage counts, in my class. Class is where you are safe to fail, where you are encouraged to fail, because obviously, that is where you will learn…I don’t necessarily need talent – if someone comes into my class with just the willingness to try new things, to open up, to be truthful, I can make good things happen.”

Several of his references noted that “this is the perfect job for him.”  Wooster agrees.